


In the Shadow of the Moon

by Daytonagirl8991



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adam Milligan is Mary Winchester's Son, Alpha Dean, Always Female Castiel, Breeding, Captivity, F/M, Female Castiel, Forced Pregnancy, Gen, Kidnapping, Mating, Mutual Non-Con, Omega Castiel, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pregnant Castiel, Skinwalker Castiel, Skinwalker Dean, Skinwalker Sam, Teen Pregnancy, True Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2018-04-29 01:10:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 29,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5110898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daytonagirl8991/pseuds/Daytonagirl8991
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the day Dean is taken by humans. He is forced to survive in a life that is out of every skinwalker's nightmare. But with the help of an unexpected ally, he might be able to make it out alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The day had started out so normal, that when the Winchester family looked back on it there was no sign of the trouble that was about to hit the family.

“Dean missed his curfew again last night. So can you talk to him about it?” Mary asked as she began making breakfast. John could only roll his eyes at his eldest son’s behavior. John left the kitchen and made his way upstairs to the bedrooms, narrowly missing being ran into by his youngest; as the six year old is a ball of energy. He stopped in front of the door that is covered in band and car logos. He knocked swiftly on the door, before letting himself into the room.

“Hey teenager. You got caught on Mom radar last night. What was so important that you missed your curfew yet again?” John said, trying to not be threating yet. Dean was a lot like John had been as a teenager. Constantly testing his limits. And the more John pushed, the more Dean will rebel. 

“Nothing, Sir.” Dean said as he sat up on the edge of the bed. 

“We’ve been over this many times, Dean. But to make myself clear: be within the boundaries of the settlement by eleven. And don’t make me go over this again. Understand?”

“Yes sir.”

“Anything else you want to talk about?” John asked; wondering his eldest son had any problems he hadn’t had a chance to speak to him about.

“No.” Dean answered; shutting down the conversation much like he always did. 

“Ok. Your mom was getting breakfast ready, so get ready to come downstairs.” John says as he leaves the room.

Twenty minutes later, the Winchester family is gathered around the table eating breakfast. Adam sat next to Dean that morning at the breakfast; as the family began to eat, the young boy mimicked his older brother’s every move. It was one of the young boy’s favorite pass times to imitate his older brothers. Partly because he practically worshiped his brothers and he also knew it served as a way to greatly annoy them. 

“You ready to go Sam?” Dean asks as he finishes his breakfast.

“Yeah.” Sam says as he to gets up from the table. The two brothers rinse their breakfast dishes and put them in the sink.

“Can I go too?” Adam asks, trying to make his eyes big and hopeful. 

“Not this time, Buddy.” Dean says, ruffling his youngest brother’s hair.

“Adam, we have an appointment today with Pamela for your check up.” Mary says as she begins to wash the breakfast dishes as Sam and Dean leave the kitchen and prepare to leave the house.

"Be careful boys." John warns before his older sons leave the house. "Victor thought he spotted some humans near the boarder this week."

"We will, Dad." Dean assures. "Besides we're not planning of leaving the territory."

The two brothers stop on the back porch of the house to remove their clothing, before shifting into their wolf forms. 

Dean is an impressive wolf; it was obvious that Dean is next in line to be Pack Commander. His golden fur is thick and shiny. His muscles lean and strong. Piercing Green eyes that he had inherited from his mother, definitely stood out in the pack. 

Sam’s true chestnut coloring is becoming more apparent as he will probably shed his final coat of puppy fuzz this coming spring as he will be celebrating his thirteenth year. Sam had recently presented as an Alpha; and the Alpha traits are readily apparent. Sam will definitely grow to be a leader in his own right, and will probably be Dean’s second in command when Dean assumes command of the pack. 

(Dad on you about curfew again?) Sam asks as the two brothers make their way towards the lake on the boarder of the Pack lands.

(Yeah. He is convinced that I need to be in the settlement early every night.)

(Was you out with Lisa again?) Sam asks. Lisa Braedon is one of Dean’s yearmates and among the handful of girls that had been vying for the young Alpha’s attention since the day he had presented. And unlike his parents there is no tone of prying; just curiosity. So Dean decides to answer his younger brother.

(No. Benny and I were trying to take down a bull elk that was out by the lake. He got spooked before we could attack though) Dean said, while trying to catch the scent of the elusive elk. But instead of an Elk, an unfamiliar sent fills his nose that causes Dean to stop dead in his tracks. Sniffing the air, Dean realizes that he recognizes the scent of humans. And they’re close; dangerously close. 

(Sam, stop. humans are close! We need to get back to the settlement.) Sam stops, and begins to sniff the air to try to catch the same sent Dean did. Dean sniffs the air again; trying to determine the exact location of the intruders. (Sam, you need to run. The humans are to the west, go south towards the creek, then go back to the settlement.)

(What about you?) Sam whines back. 

(I’m gonna head north. Try to lead them away from the settlement. Now go.) With that Dean forcibly nudges Sam in the direction he wants Sam to run. Sam runs off towards the creek; Dean watches him for a second then turns to run the opposite direction. He barely makes it ten feet before he is knocked off his feet by a blinding pain to his side. Dean doesn’t even fully notice that he shifts back into human form. Looking down, he sees the blood pouring from a wound just below his rib cage. 

He tries to get up to run, but his legs feel like they are filled with jello. Human voices are quickly approaching fast; Dean tries harder to get up. But he is unable to. Soon the humans emerge from the woods, there are two of them; both dressed in camouflage and carrying rifles. Dean hopes more than anything that Sam was able to get away; if for no other reason than to tell his parents what had happened to him. As the two men stand over them, they begin talking about him as if he was nothing more than an animal. 

“We got a good one today. What do you think Alistair?” 

“Young Alpha, he should get a good price. Just too bad we didn’t get the other one he was with.”

A sharp pain in his neck is the last thing Dean remembers before darkness overtakes him. 

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Mary is in the process of hanging the laundry on the family clothes line when she hears the first shots. They sounded too close to be from outside the pack boarders. At the sounds of the shots, it seems as if the whole community goes still, seemingly waiting for what might happen next. John and Bobby are in John’s workshop; discussing pack matters that Mary chooses to not get involved in at this moment of time. If it is anything that John feels that she needs to know he will tell her later. However at the sound of the first shot, the two men emerge from the shop and are clearly trying to assess what is going on.

Mary looks over to where her youngest is playing near the edge of the clearing around the house. But at the sounds of the shots, he has stopped what he was doing and seems to be unsure of what to do.

“Adam, go inside the house now!” Mary orders and thankfully the young boy decides not to argue. He runs immediately to the house and disappears inside.

Several minutes after the second shot, Sam comes stumbling out of the woods. He is in human form, and surprisingly out of breath. He manages to make it over to Mary before collapsing into his mother’s embrace. Mary immediately checks her son over for injuries.

“What happened?” Mary asks her son once she is satisfied that he is unharmed.

“H-humans.” Sam panted; trying to catch his breath. “Inside the pack lands. Dean told me to run.”

“Where’s Dean?” John asks. John and Bobby had joined the pair as Mary had done her examination of her son for injuries.

“He said he was going to go north and try to lead them away from the settlement. But I heard the shots behind me.”

“Bobby, gather any Alphas that you can to search for Dean.” John says, but Bobby is already leaving to do just that. “Sam, go inside the house with your mother.” Sam opens his mouth to protest, but John is in no mood for an argument. “Now, Samuel!”

Sam turns and goes towards the house; both John and Mary watch Sam head towards the house.

“Go inside and lock the door, Mary. Don’t open the door until the searchers return.”

“Be careful, John.” Mary says as she gives her mate a quick kiss before heading inside the house to her two remaining sons.

Soon there is a large group of Shifters searching through the woods for the missing teen. But the only trace of the missing young Alpha is the scent of Dean’s blood, mingled with those of the human intruders. A group had tracked Dean’s scent to the territory boarders; where it seemed to disappear. Sniffing closer, they discover that the humans had been using scent blockers. And since Sam hadn’t actually seen the humans it’s impossible to get a description out to the neighboring territories.

Before going back, the searchers decide to check the caves deep in the woods of the pack-lands; thinking maybe Dean had managed to get away from the humans and made it under cover. Possibly injured and alone, Dean would need to be found soon if he was to have any chance of survival. But they don’t find the teen anywhere in the woods. The searchers have to return to the settlement empty hand and heavy hearted convinced that the young Alpha must be dead.

John had insisted on being on the search; even though the thought of possibly finding his son’s body is like a knife twisting in his heart. When he approaches his house, John sees Mary standing by the window, watching and waiting for Dean to come home. When she sees that John is alone; John can almost visibly see her heart break even more.

When John enters the house, he immediately moves into the living room where Mary is waiting for him. They don’t have to say anything to each other; years of being mated has made words unnecessary. Mary just launches herself into John’s arms and John returns the embrace with equal fervor. For several minutes John just holds onto his inconsolable mate as she pours out her grief for her eldest son on his shoulder. And if there happens to be wet spots on Mary’s shoulder, John dares anyone of calling him out on it. Finally the couple pulls themselves together enough to separate.

“Where are the boys?” John asked, expecting the boys to have stayed close to their mother today.

“They refuse to leave Dean’s room. I think his scent is comforting to them right now.” Mary answered. But the sound of footsteps on the stairs, announce that the boys have in fact left their brother’s room.

“He’s gone isn’t he, Dad?” Sam asks; noticing that Dean isn’t with John.

John just puts a hand on Sam’s shoulder as he says: “I’m sorry Pal. We couldn’t find him.”

Sam just launches himself into his father’s arms like a young pup; seeking comfort from his Alpha. The rest of the night, the family remained together as they mourned the loss of Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is short. But the next part wasn't coming together enough to be posted. 
> 
> Comments and suggestions are much appreciated as they help spur my creativity.


	3. Chapter 3

Consciousness returns to Dean in flashes. The first thing that Dean realizes is that he isn’t in his room back at home. He had been hoping that the whole experience with the humans had been a bad dream.

But when Dean manages to open his eyes, he is greeted by the sight of bars surrounding him on all sides. And the realization that the sight, momentarily causes Dean to freeze in panic: he is in a cage. Dean lays there for a few moments to take in his circumstances: There is bandages wrapped around his torso below his rib cage. Dean notices that blood had begun soaking through the bandages; but Dean suspects that the bleeding has already stopped. There is a weight pressing against his neck. Reaching up, Dean discovers a collar around his neck. Stumbling to his feet, and trying to ignore the pain in his torso, Dean makes his way to the bars of the cage. He tries to pull on the bars to test if he could break free. But the bars are too strong and refuse to budge.

“Sonovabitch!” Dean swears from the frustration of not being able to break free. There is a beep before a shock that comes from the collar around his neck. The shock actually takes Dean to his knees and knocks the air from Dean’s lungs.

“There’s a shocker on your collar.” Came a quiet voice that startled Dean. “And if you talk too loud: the sensors will hear you and punish you for talking.” The voice continues in a low whisper. “The shocks don’t happen if you whisper. The sensors aren’t that sensitive.”

Turning to the side, Dean notices another cage a few feet from his own. Inside the cage is a girl around his age. She is huddled in the corner farthest from him. She has her legs drawn up to her chest with her arms locked around her knees.

"I’m Dean. What's your name?” Dean asks, being mindful of the volume of his voice.

“Castielle.” The girl’s voice is quiet and if it wasn’t for the extra sensitive hearing of a skin walker; Dean wouldn’t have heard her at all. “You’ve been out for a couple hours. That, and with your injuries, you probably shouldn’t be up.”

Now that Castielle had mentioned it, it brings Dean’s attention to the fact that he can feel his pulse in his temples and his legs are shaking more than he’ll ever admit. But instead of returning to the rickety cot that Dean had woken up on; Dean moves as close to the other cage as his own will allow him and sits down.

Castielle moves closer as well. As she does, her scent is that catches Dean’s attention the most. It’s the scent of an Omega; and for some reason, Dean’s Alpha is instantly attracted to it. She takes the same position that she had been in when Dean first noticed her. Dean recognizes it as an Omega’s submissive position. He and Castielle are about three feet apart due to the gap between their cages.

Dean can’t help but study her appearance. She is about his age, but it is hard to guess on her exact size as her frame is hidden under oversized sweats. She has long, dark hair that is hangs down to her waist. Around her neck is a collar similar to the one around his own; including the plastic piece that delivers the painful shocks. Cas eventually makes eye contact with Dean, and wow, Cas is unreasonably attractive. Her blue eyes are such a vivid blue that Dean is sure he has never seen eyes that blue before.

“How long have you been here, Cas?” Dean asks, only realizing after he said it that he had called Castielle: ‘Cas”. Then he decides he likes the nickname for her and, unless there’s complaints, he’ll continue to use it. Cas doesn’t say anything about the name, just tilts her head slightly to the left.

“Not sure exactly. What year is it?”

“It’s 1996. How come you don’t know that?” Dean asked shocked that Cas doesn't know what year it is.

“It’s easy to lose track of time in here.” Cas pauses and seems to be calculating something in her head. ‘’I’ve been here for over six years.”

“Why haven’t you tried getting away yet?”

“I have.” Castielle moves her hair to one side and pulls up the back of her shirt, before she turns to allow Dean to have an unobstructed view of her back. Dean feels like he might be physically ill at the sight of it. There are long scars that run down the entire length of Cas’s back. “I was always caught and punished.”

Before Dean could recover from the shock of seeing Cas’s back, the sound of a door opening could be heard. Cas jumps at the sound, before turning back towards Dean.

“They’re coming.”

Before Dean has a chance to question Cas about who she is talking about, three men enter the room where the two cages are. Dean recognizes two of the men as the hunters who took him. Also with the two hunters, is a man wearing a black suit, with thinning dark hair. The man carried himself with an almost regal, arrogant, air to him; like he thinks he is king of the world.

“I see our new arrival has woken up. What do you think about your new companion, Castielle?” the cocky man asks Cas. Cas says nothing just gives a defiant stare back. Dean had to admire the Omega in fighting her own natural submission and putting on a strong front; Dean, however, could smell her fear. She’s terrified of these men; but she is determined to show no fear to them.

The man in the black suit just ignores Cas though and moves to stand in front of Dean’s cage. Before Dean can do anything, the man in the black suit removes something that looks like a small remote control and says: “If you can be civilized, I will allow you to ask any questions that you want.”

“Who are you?” “The only name you need to refer to me as is: Master.”

“Like hell!” Dean exclaims. Even locked in a cage, Dean is an Alpha; one who will only submit to the Pack Alpha, and certainly never to a human. At that the man pressed a button on his remote, activating the shocks of the collar; leaving Dean on the floor shaking and panting heavily.

“You will find that I’m a reasonable man; but I will not tolerate disobedience of any kind.”

“Why’d you take me?” Dean asked as he recovered from the shock.

“I don’t have to tell you how special you are. Shifters are a special breed of their own. Faster, smarter, stronger than an ordinary human. Some say that you are able to see things before they happen. Who wouldn’t want to have one of their very own? To tame and control such a magnificent creature?”

“You’ve had Cas for a long time. So why take me?”

“She’s special in her own right; but I also wanted an Alpha. A wild Shifter is one thing, but it would be another thing to have one from birth to train and control.

“You want to breed us?” Dean can sense Cas’s fear grow stronger; and Dean has to admit that his own is rising.

“It’s never been successful, breeding shifters in captivity. But I’m confident that the two of you will prove to be the first.” With that the men leave the two young shifters in their cages; alone with their thoughts and fears.


	4. Chapter 4

After men had left the room, Dean continues to seethe in anger. He is about to get up and try breaking out again. But before his anger gets the better of him, Dean remembers Cas. He knows that she has to smell his anger and it couldn’t be helping her to not be scared of him. Cas had remained in the same position she had been in, but had buried her head in her knees. Dean briefly wondered how many times had Cas taken that position after previous encounters with those men, but it hurt too much to think about. Besides the shocks he had received from his collar did not help the pounding in his head. So Dean remains where he is, hoping that the pain will stop soon.

Dean wasn’t sure if Cas would want to talk to him; as he can still detect the Omega’s fear. Because of that, Dean is surprised when he hears Cas whisper: “His name is Crowley.”

“What?” Dean asked, still surprised that Cas is speaking to him.

“The one who refers to himself as master; his name is Crowley. But don’t ever say it as it will provoke a punishment, one worse than a shock.” Cas warns, in a low whisper. “The other two are Alastair and Azazel. They don’t have anything that they prefer to be called. They’re Crowley’s enforcers; Crowley doesn’t like ‘dirtying his hands’. The woman who normally brings our food is named Meg; she isn’t too bad, just don’t expect her to talk to you.”

It is then that Dean realizes that Cas isn’t a weak, passive Omega; like he first thought. She might not have gotten out of here before because of simply being outnumbered. But Dean could guess she had a lot more knowledge of their captors than they realized. She had used the human stereotypes of Omega’s, only a small portion of those were actually based on reality, against them. She would be a good ally to have in an escape plan; as the omega is undoubtedly a good source of information of their captors.

“Did you know that they were planning on trying to breed us?” Dean asks, remembering Cas’s lack of reaction earlier. Cas just nods her head at first.

“He’s tried before.” Cas’s voice takes on a haunted quality and Dean is sure she is probably reliving it in her head. “All the times it failed, Crowley just got more and more angry. That’s why he wanted a real Alpha this time; Crowley thinks it will make a difference.”

“What’d he do before if he didn’t have an Alpha?” Dean asked, wondering just what had Cas been subjected to.

“He’s tried to use Artificial Insemination.” Cas says quietly; obviously ready to end the conversation. Dean couldn’t help but wonder if Crowley knows anything about Shifter biology. It was common knowledge that an Omega couldn’t be impregnated by A.I. They have a natural defense against unwanted pregnancies. With the exception of their heats, they can’t get pregnant without the hormone release of an orgasm.

“Cas, I have to ask: how old are you?” Dean knows that it isn’t healthy for an Omega to have a pup before they turn eighteen; as their bodies need to mature inside to ensure a healthy pup.

“I was born on March 21st 1980.” Cas says after a moment’s hesitation; as if she has to think to remember when her birthday even is. Dean realizes that Cas said her birthdate because she didn’t know that her sixteenth birthday was almost two weeks ago. Dean remembers when some of the girls in the pack turned 16, how many of them had a big birthday celebration. It is a milestone age for shifters, as it is the age that shifters could begin to pair off to mate. Cas didn’t even know that her sixteenth birthday had passed.

“You turned sixteen two weeks ago.” It is both sad and weird at the same time to tell Cas her own age. Her age seems to be a shock to Cas, as her eyes widen slightly before she puts up some sort of emotional shield. Cas has a poker face that could win her a fortune in Vegas. “You ok?” Dean asks, wondering just what has upset her.

“I’m now the same age as one of my older brothers was when I saw him last. He had seemed so grown up back then.” Cas answers; her voice shell shocked.

Dean has to wonder just how long it has been since Cas had last seen her family if her sixteen year old brother had been ‘so grown up’. But before Dean can even form his next question, the sound of their captors returning to the room startles them both. This time instead of the three men, it is Crowley and a woman Dean doesn’t recognize but assume has to be Meg from what Cas said. Meg is carrying a bowl and a bottle of water.

“Since you couldn’t mind your manners earlier, you’ll go without supper tonight. I expect a changed attitude tomorrow if you want to receive food.” Crowley says menacingly, while glaring at Dean in his cage. Dean decides not to say anything, but glares back defiantly from his position on the floor.

As Cas had said, Meg doesn’t talk, she just puts the food into Cas’s cage through a wider slot at the bottom of the door. After Meg left the bowl and water for Cas, the humans leave the room again. Cas moves forward to get food; she moves back to the same spot that she was in before. She spends a few moments going through the food. Cas then reaches through the bars of her cage, in her hand is part of her food rations.

“You need to eat.”

“What about you? They didn’t give you much to begin with.” Dean says as he reaches through the bars of his cage to accept the food Cas is offering. He feels guilty that Cas feels like she needs to share her food because his Alpha pride caused him to denied his own food. Cas’s reply doesn’t make him feel any better: “I’ll be fine. As you seen, Crowley likes to use food as a weapon. I’ve gone with less for a lot longer.”

The food that Crowley had given Cas is just cheap, store bought meat. And from the taste of it, Dean guesses that it is probably chicken. He had never thought that food would make him homesick, but as Dean attempts to eat the food; he finds that he never wanted to be at home with his family more in his entire life.


	5. Chapter 5

After they finished the meager food rations and the bottle of water, the two teenagers sat together talking. Cas had begun asking dozens of questions about every topic imaginable.  Dean guessed that Cas had been lonely here in her cage for so long, craving any contact to the outside world; so Dean answered her questions with no complaints.  Strangely, Cas didn’t know much about the World after 1985; making Dean wonder why, since Cas has only been with Crowley since 1990. As they talked, Dean noticed that the lights were going dimmer in a simulated dusk. That was why Cas lost track of time in here. The lack of natural light added to the simulated “days” and “nights”; Crowley could manipulate their perception of time in whatever perverted manner he wanted.

“It’s going to be dark soon.” Cas commented as she too noticed the fading light.  “Or at least Crowley’s version of dark.”  As Cas also knows that their days and nights are also subject to Crowley’s manipulation. Cas gets up from the floor and moves towards the cot on the opposite side of the cage. Dean thinks that Cas is going to go to bed, and feels a pang in his gut that he identifies a loneliness and a bit of fear of being left alone even though the cots are only about twelve feet apart. But instead Cas just retrieves her sleeping bag and moved it over to their ‘talking corner’.   

“The cots are attached to the bars.” Cas says as an explanation of her actions; and Dean wonders if Cas had sensed his thoughts about being alone. Dean says nothing, but goes to get the sleeping bag that is on the cot that he had woken up on and bring it back to his corner. As he spreads the bag out on the floor, Cas settles in to hers. 

By time Dean gets settled into his sleeping bag, the lights seemed to reach their darkest point. It wasn’t completely dark in the room, as Dean is sure that even without the night vision of a skin walker he would be able to see Cas’s form clearly in the room. A slightly awkward silence descends on the room as both  shifters attempts to get comfortable on the hard floor. 

"Cas?" Dean whispered through the dark. Wondering if Cas was awake; or if she had already gone to sleep.

"Yeah?" Came the quiet response. 

"Where are your parents?" Dean asked. Cas didn't understand why Dean chose this topic to ask about; but she answered none the less. 

“I’m not sure exactly. Why do you want to know?"

"Dunno; I just wondered. Omega or not, how could someone like you end up in this hellhole?” Cas turns towards Dean, and in the dim “moonlight” Dean could easily make out the features of Cas’s face. And what he could see almost broke his heart; silent resignation.

“It wasn’t always like this. I know that my family cared about me; and possibly looked for me after I was first taken. But since they probably lost everything, and maybe even some of my brothers and sisters; they might not have been able to look as hard as they might have otherwise.”

 Something in Cas’s tone made Dean wonder if Cas is trying to convince herself of her words. But Dean decides not to push it.  Instead he asks: “How many siblings did you have?” Dean noticed how Cas’s eyes lit up when she talked about her family. Plus his curiosity was piqued as to what happened to Cas as to how she ended up here. 

“There was nine of us: Michael was 17 when I last saw him.  Luke is a year younger than Michael, Gabriel was 15, Rachel was 13, Anna was 11, Joshua was 9, Muriel was 7, I was 5, and baby Alfie was 3. Plus my parents and my grandparents.” Dean couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Cas to have been taken from her family and being on her own at the age of five. He couldn’t help but think about little Adam, and imagine him in being captured and caged.  

“So what happened?” Dean can tell Cas is reluctant to talk about this part of her past, and he is about to tell her that she didn’t have to talk about it. But she continues anyways.

“Humans began to discover that my family wasn’t normal.  I’m not sure exactly what caused them to find out; I think my older brothers had been seen in the woods down the road from our farm. But eventually they decided that we shouldn’t be allowed to be free anymore. Then one night they came to our house to capture us…”

Castielle could remember that night. They’d had supper that night as a family. After supper, she had sat on her grandfather’s lap listening to him telling stories. At bedtime, her mother had tucked her and Muriel into their pallet bed that is normally stored under Rachel and Anna’s bed. She could still feel the ghost of that last kiss her mother had given her before giving Muriel a kiss too and leaving the room. Not long after that, Rachel and Anna had come into the room to go to bed.  Since both younger girls were still awake, they had convinced Rachel to read a bit more of the ‘Little House’ book that she had been reading to them. Cas had been lulled to sleep in the warmth of her older sister lying beside her, listening to Rachel’s steady voice read about the adventures of a little prairie girl so long ago.

Later that night, Castielle was awoken by the sounds of screaming and angry voices.  She remembers one of her older brothers, she cannot remember which one but suspects that it was Michael, had come into the room and told them to get up.   In the chaos of leaving the bedroom, Castielle hadn’t remembered her shoes. They had gone down the back staircase into the kitchen to try to avoid the mob coming up the main staircase. 

Disoriented and confused, Castielle had tried to keep up with her siblings. But being small, she hadn’t been able to keep up. She had heard her Grandparents behind her, and being frightened, she had ran toward the only protection that she could.  But it hadn’t been the safety that she had thought it to be.

“… I can remember hearing my father’s voice calling my name when he noticed I wasn’t with my siblings anymore.  But before I could respond though I was hit with a dart. After that it just went black. I barely even remember what my parents looked like anymore… Does that make me a bad person?” 

“No, Cas, you’re not a bad person. You were only a pup when you last saw your family; and that was over ten years ago. What happened after that?” Dean asks. He knows that he’s prying, but he can’t help the curiosity about Cas’s past. 

“At first, they were trying to figure out what made shifters be the way that we are. And how do we compare to humans. They also experimented with possible ‘cures’ for being a skin walker. None of them worked, soon they lost interest in me. Then when I about ten, Crowley brought me here and began trying to see if it was possible to ‘breed’ me.”   As Cas said this her voice waivered slightly; and Dean is able to catch the reflection of a solitary tear rolling down Cas’s cheek. 

Dean has a hard time holding back his hatred of the people who had hurt Cas so badly. He is horrified at the thought that Crowley had tried to force a ten year old girl to get pregnant. As he lays there on the floor, Dean silently vows that he will do whatever he could to get them out of this place.

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

The Winchester house is a quiet the morning after Dean was taken. John is the first one up that morning; and is immediately struck by how empty the house feels without his eldest son.  It had been a fitful night for the Winchester household; as the boys had at first refused to even go to bed. Only to finally go to sleep when they were too tired to be awake for even a moment longer.

Getting up from the bed, John has to step carefully to avoid tripping over his youngest. Adam, in wolf form, is curled up on a pillow next to bed where the young pup had insisted on spending the night. Adam looks so much like Dean had as a pup, that it almost painful to see him. And the pillow that Adam is sleeping on, had once been used by Dean when he was a pup and scared of the thunder; that was when Mary had begun putting the pillow in their room for the boys to sleep on when they came into the room in the middle of the night.

And although Sam tried to maintain the image of the tough, grown up alpha; John wasn’t fooled. He had heard Sam move to sleep outside their door in the middle of the night.  And sure enough, when John opened the bedroom door there was Sam sleeping in tangle of his blankets also in wolf form. John carefully steps over his middle son to go downstairs.

When John reaches the bottom of the stairs, he is tempted to start the coffee maker; knowing that he and Mary would definitely need the coffee to make it through this day. But then John thinks better of it as Mary had firmly forbade him from doing anything in ‘her’ kitchen in the early days of their mating after he had set fire to the toaster.

When he gets into the kitchen there is a knock on the back door. John goes on alert as he wonders if it could be more human intruders. Or maybe Dean had been able to get free and had managed to get back to the pack lands and was now standing on the back porch, unable to get in the locked door.

He answers the door to find a young blonde omega standing at the door. The girl is about Sam’s age. And while John normally knew the names of most of the pack members; at the moment, he cannot remember the girl’s name.

She is holding a covered pan; and looks like she is nervous to be standing on the back porch.

“Yeah?” Is all John can manage to get out; as he really doesn’t feel like facing pack members this morning. He belatedly realizes that he is being rude; and Mary would reprimand him if she had heard him.

“My mother and I made you and your family breakfast. We didn’t think Mrs. Winchester would feel like cooking.” The young girl says as she fiddles with the foil covering the pan.

Before John can say anything, he hears the distinctive sound of Sam coming into the kitchen.

“Hey Jess.” Sam says as he notices who is standing at the back door.

“Hi Sam.” Jess says, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks. The young girl is obviously, to John at least, trying to flirt with his middle son.

‘This is new.’ John notes to himself. He is use to the females batting their eyes at Dean, but so far Sam had yet to gain the attentions of the girls in the pack. But now that Sam has presented as an Alpha, John suspects that Sam will now start catching the eyes of the young females in the pack. Sam is still a little too young to begin seriously courting girls, but John is beginning to think his middle son will need a strong shove to get him to notice the girls.

“Sammy, why don’t you walk Jessica home?” John suggests; hoping that his son will take the hint; and use the opportunity to get closer to the girl.

John watches as Sam walks Jess, he notices how Sam is trying to be a perfect gentleman with the young Omega. John knows Mary would be proud of Sam is she saw this; after all it had been Mary to instill those manners into their boys. Tearing his attention from watching Sam, John decides to check to see if Mary and Adam are awake yet.

Entering the living room, John is met with the sight of Mary standing at the window, staring out towards the woods as if expecting their eldest to come walking down the path any minute with some story of trying to get a kill, or having been out with one of the many females that vied for the alpha’s attention.

“Some of the other pack members brought food for us.” John says as he comes up behind Mary.

“I can’t eat, John. Not when I don’t know if my son is eating.”

“Mary, Dean is-“

“Is what John? Gone? Dead? Is that what you were going to say?” Mary asks as she turns to fully face John. A righteous fury burning in her green eyes. “Our son is _alive_ , John. I can feel it. So I don’t want you to try to tell me any different. Dean is alive and we have to find him and bring him home.”

Even though John feels like it is hopeless, he knows better than to argue with an Omega concerning one of their pups. So all he can do is say: “We’ll do our best to bring him home.”

“Good.” Mary says as she turns her attention back to the window.  All the while silently trying to feel her son through the bond that they share. Tears threaten to come again as she again gets no response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short but I couldn't help it as this scene just wouldn't leave me and I felt like I've neglected this for too long. Next chapter will get back to Dean and Cas. 
> 
> Feedback is greatly appreciated for starving writers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely happy with this chapter; but I didn't want to go too long between posting again. 
> 
> This chapter has adult content so please act accordingly.

The lights are just coming on in the room, when the sound of the door opening startles both teenage shifters awake. The two teens don’t even have a chance to move from their sleeping bags before their captors’ voices fill the room. There is a new man with Crowley as they entered the room. This guy looked like a high school principle with his balding hair and suit. 

They ignored Dean for the moment and moved to stand in front of her cage. Zachariah stared at Cas for several moments like she was an animal in a zoo. And Dean knows that is exactly how the men standing on the other side of the bars see them; as nothing more than animals. 

“She’s a pretty little bitch, isn’t she?” Zachariah comments still staring at Cas. 

“That she can be.” Crowley agrees. “And she definitely has several unique features for shifters. And with my new alpha, I should have some good looking pups soon.” 

Zachariah breaks from his staring at Cas to glance at Dean. He has a very calculating gaze as he looks at Dean, He seems to come to some conclusion, as he breaks his gaze and says:“Well what are you waiting for? Let’s get the show on the road.” 

Crowley just turns towards Alistair and gives him a nod. That is apparently all the sign Alistair needs as he moves towards the door to Cas’s cage. He unlocks the cage and confidently moves towards Cas. Cas seems to snap out of her waking up stupor; and although she isn’t able to get out of her sleeping bag, she seems like she is gearing up for a fight.

Alistair is able to get a hold of Cas’s arm; but as he does so, Cas decides to fight and begins trying to claw at anything she can reach. She leaves a set of deep claw marks down the left side of Alistair’s face that Dean inwardly cheers her on until Crowley pushes one of the buttons on his damn remote that Dean knows had to have delivered a painful shock to Cas. Alistair at the same time lands a hard blow to the side of Cas’s face. Her fight instantly leaves her as she lays on the floor not moving. Dean can see that Cas is only semi-conscious. And Dean’s Alpha instincts are screaming at him to try to get free and protect Cas. But he knows that the bars of the cage are too strong to break. Besides, Dean doesn’t want to provoke Crowley into punishing him, or worse Cas, for not keeping quiet.

Crowley and Azazel enter Cas’s cage, joining Alistair in standing over Cas’s still form. Crowley pulls a prefilled syringe out of his pocket and hands it over to Alistair. 

“Give her the first dose then bring her into the room.” With that Crowley leaves the cage; and escorts Zachariah from the room as if nothing has happened. 

Dean watches as Alistair takes Cas’s arm and smoothly inserts the needle into the flesh on the inside of Cas’s elbow and inject the gold-colored liquid into Cas. Almost immediately, Dean is able to detect the change in Cas’s sent. Whatever Alistair had injected Cas with was triggering her heat. Cas managed to whimper something that sounded like ‘no’ as Azazel and Alistair picked her up and began to carry her out of her cage. 

“What are you doing to her?” Dean demands, and Dean would claim that it was an accident that his Alpha voice came through.

Azazel and Alistair do exchange a look, before Azazel answers: “You’ll find out soon enough, Romeo.” With that the two men carried Cas from the room.

All Dean can do is wait for what is going to happen next. Soon Alistair and Azazel return to the room; Azazel is carrying a stun gun and Alistair was carrying Crowley’s remote. 

“You cooperate, we won’t have to use these.” Azazel stated, the treat was clear. And Dean decides that it might be better to comply with them, as he isn’t sure where Cas is. If he provokes them enough, could they possibly do something to Cas?

Alistair unlocks the door to Dean’s cage; and Dean makes the decision to cooperate. Once the door opens, Dean is ready for them to come into the cage. When they do, Alistair stops in front of him almost daring Dean to try something. But Dean forces himself to remain still, although he can’t control the defiant look in his eyes.Azazel came up behind Dean and begins to handcuff his arms behind his back. Dean doesn’t resist as Alistair is holding both the remote and the Taser.

“Time to fulfill your purpose, boy.” Alistair says as Azazel grabs Dean’s upper arm in a move to remove him from his cage. As they leave the cage, Alistair grabs his other arm and between the two Dean doesn’t have a chance to try to escape. Dean is led down a narrow, windowless hallway to a door that opened to his right. Azazel unlocked the door and Alistair pulled Dean inside the room. He knew then what Crowley’s plans were. Crowley was going through with his plans of wanting to breed them.

When he entered into the room, Dean was hit with the smell of Cas-in-heat. Her normal scents of strawberries and lavender seemed to be multiplied, and Dean was certain that the smells of arousal and desire was so strong that even the humans could smell it. 

“She’s all ready for you.” Alistair leers as Azazel unlocks the cuffs. And without another word, the two men leave the room. As the door closes, Dean is able to hear the click of a lock; meaning that there is no way out the door.So Dean turns his attention to Cas. 

Cas is tied down on a breeding bench with her arms are stretched out on two panels and strapped down; a thick leather strap is across her hips, and her legs were strapped into stirrups that forced her legs high and splaying her open. While she seems to have recovered from the hit and shock from earlier, it is clear that Cas isn’t fully aware of what’s happening. Dean knows that it is because Cas is experiencing an incredibly strong heat.And although Dean knows that it would be unhealthy for Cas to be pregnant this young, he also knows that she needs the relief of being knotted to avoid developing heat sicknesses.

But even though Dean knows all this, he can’t help but feel like a monster for what he is about to do. An apology is clearly in his eyes as Dean takes his place on the breeding bench. The two teens made eye contact for a moment, and Dean swears that he will be haunted by the look in Cas’s eyes for the rest of his life. Her eyes are like gleaming sapphires, and filled with pleas and fear.

Feeling the need to comfort Cas, Dean bent over and kissed her. Not hard, not demanding, but the way he imagined she would like it, tenderly letting her know how much he wanted her and probing to see if the feeling was mutual. Cas is timid when Dean’s lips touched hers, and Dean knows that it is very likely to be the Omega’s first kiss. After a few moments, Cas begins to kiss him back. When he breaks the kiss, Dean looks into Cas’s eyes again; and sees that the fear has abated. But it soon begins to return, as every attempted movement reminds Cas that she is trapped in this situation. 

“It’ll be ok, Cas. We’ll get through this. Just focus on me.” Dean says; hoping to reassure Cas. Cas nods her head. And as if she flipped a switch, Cas allows herself to slip into the heat. 

Taking that as his cue, Dean bends down and begins to pay attention to Cas’s breasts. Gently licking and sucking and just generally lavishing them with attention.He keeps up the action, focusing all the attention on Cas. He wanted to give Cas a pleasurable experience that she has probably never had before; only stopping when he hears Cas moan his name. 

Dean pushed his way back up to face Cas before he leaned down and kissed her again. As Dean deepens the kiss, he slips his hand down between her legs and tenderly begins to stroke her. As expected, Castiel let out a quiet moan, a whimper almost. Dean beaks the kiss and smiles down at her as his fingers began to explore. It didn’t take him very long to find her clit, her legs twitching as much as they could as soon as he flicked his finger over it. Castiel’s breath hitched as he continued to massage it. It only took a few moments before Cas completely falls apart. Her body arching, as much as the restraints will allow, as she is hit with her first orgasm. 

“Tell me what you want, Angel” Dean said as Cas moans his name for the second time. 

“Knot. Please, Dean.” Cas pleads as she tries to use as much leverage as she can get with the restraints to angle her pelvis into a presenting pose.

Dean presses a kiss to Cas’s forehead and says: “Since you asked so nicely.” 

He then takes his hardening member in hand and lines himself up with Cas’s wet hole. As Dean nudges himself in, he feels his Alpha scratching to come to the surface. Before he can stop it, a rut overtakes him. Dean is aware of his body thrusting into Cas, but he is powerless to control the pace. After several thrusts, Dean can feel his knot expand; ready to tie him to his omega. With one final thrust, the knot slides in and catches in Cas; tying them together. Dean can almost feel each individual bursts of semen that his knot pulses out. Eventually, the knot goes down enough that it slips out of Cas with a wet pop. 

“Mine.” Dean’s Alpha growls possessively. “My Mate.”

Dean is about to mark Cas’s neck with a mating bite when the door to the room opens. Dean barely realizes that someone has walked into the room until he hears someone slowly beginning to clap their hands. Dean can almost feel every muscle in Cas tensing as a voice joins the clapping. 

“Well done.” Crowley’s voice is almost mocking. “I knew the two of you would be good together. But I didn’t think you’d put on such a show.” 

Alistair moves forward to pull Dean off of Cas. Dean bares his teeth that had sharpened into his alpha canines. He is intent on protecting Cas; as his Alpha has already claimed Cas as his mate.

“You don’t want to do that, boy. You don’t want to face the consequences of fighting. So this is your only chance to comply and be taken back to your cage without facing a beating.” Azazel warned; and Dean decides once again that it might be better to comply; especially since he doesn’t know what these humans will do. But he knows that they have carried out every threat that they have made. And Dean knows that he couldn’t leave without Cas, not since his Alpha is claiming Cas as a mate. 

So with great regret, Dean gets up from Cas. Again he can’t keep the defiance from his eyes; but puts up no fight as the humans prepare to take him back to his cage.

As with before, Dean is handcuffed and lead back to his cage. As Dean waits for Cas to be brought back to her cage, he worries that Cas is going to hate him now for what he has done to her. Finally, after what feels like forever to Dean, Cas is brought back to her cage. Dean can’t help but notice how Cas is walking like every step is painful. She barely makes it back to the sleeping bag in her cage before she collapses onto it. Dean is about to ask what had happened to her, when he notices that the back of Cas’s shirt has come up in the back exposing her back and the new marks that crisscrossed it. 

"Oh, Cas, what did they do to you?" Dean whispered as he reached out to try to touch Cas. His Alpha screaming at him to try to comfort his mate. But unless Cas reaches out to him as well, it is no use to try to touch her.

“I was punished for fighting Alistair.” Cas whispers it the thin excuse for a pillow that she is currently trying to bury her face in to hide her tear-raw eyes. 

All Dean could think of to say was: “I'm sorry, sweetheart; I'm so sorry”. 

Dean half-expected Cas to tell him there was nothing to be sorry for, but she didn't. Instead, Cas just lay on her sleeping bag. And although Dean didn’t hear any sobs, he could tell by the way her back and shoulders shift every few minutes that Cas is crying. 

So not knowing any other way to comfort Cas, Dean begins to quietly sing “hey Jude”. It seems to have an effect as the shaking slowly stops. Soon Dean is convinced that Cas has fallen asleep. 


	8. Chapter 8

Cas sleeps for what Dean guesses to be about an hour. As Dean keeps watch over her, he tries to assess the extent of the injuries to Cas’s back.  They are still seeping blood, but the bleeding is slowing. From the blood marks on the back of Cas’s shirt, Dean can tell that they extend from Cas’s shoulders to just above her hips. Dean can’t help but feel guilty that Cas had been whipped while he had been trapped in the cage.  He couldn’t protect his mate from the beating that had been inflicted on her.  

His new feelings for Cas is the other thing his mind toiled over as he watched Cas sleep. His Alpha is adamant about claiming Cas as it’s mate. But what if that isn’t what Cas wants? They haven’t known each other for more than a couple days; would she want to be courted and eventually mated by him if they manage to escape.  Or would she only see him as her rapist, and hate him forever? 

As Dean is sitting there watching Cas, a new scent, almost hidden beneath Cas’s normal scents, catches his attention. The change in Cas’s scent is so subtle that Dean almost misses it.  But now that he’s noticed it, it is impossible to ignore. The sweet milk scent is one of the many scents that is considered universal across shifters; much like emotions. It’s the scent of a pregnant or nursing shifter.  

Despite the circumstances, Dean feels his Alpha preening at the fact that he had knocked up the Omega that it considered it’s mate.  But the reality hit him hard as well, he didn’t have just his mate to be concerned about now, he also had their pup to try to get out of here.  But it also brings up the worry that Cas might hate him even more now. And if that is the case, would Cas even go through with having the pup? Would she allow him to be a part of the pup’s life? And what would happen to the pup if they didn’t get out of here? 

That last thought sends such a strong wave of revulsion though him that Dean immediately shuts it down.  Not getting out of this hellhole is not an option. Glancing at Cas, Dean can’t help but think about what little she had said about how she has grown up. Dean knows that would be what their pup would face if they didn’t escape. Cas shifts a bit and it must have been painful as she whimpers in pain.   

“I’m so sorry Cas.” Dean whispers. 

“For what?” a quiet voice asks startling Dean as he thought that Cas is still asleep.  Cas turns to face Dean; and although no tears are visible her eyes are still red rimmed from crying. 

“For what I did to you.” Cas quirks an eyebrow in confusion; so Dean explains: “If it hadn’t been for whatever that drug was, would you have wanted me to knot you?” 

“I’m glad you did it, Dean.  It probably saved your life.” Cas says. “Dean, as the Alpha: in Crowley’s sick mind, you have one purpose. Proving that you can do what they want you to do, is the easiest way to stay alive.” 

“But-” Dean starts to argue. But Cas will have none of it. 

“No buts, Dean. One thing I’ve learnt in this life is: with humans like them, your goal is to stay alive. No matter what you have to do to do it; if you’re alive to get to go to sleep at night, then you’ve won for another day. What you have to do to get to that, doesn’t matter; you can’t dwell on what that is though.” And although Dean wants to take the opportunity that Cas is offering to walk away from what he did blame free; he couldn’t. Not when there is permanent consequences for Cas.

 “Even if it means bringing a pup into this hell?” Dean asks. It takes a few moments for Cas to comprehend what Dean means. But when she does, Dean can almost see a piece of her soul being ripped out of her. Dean knows that Cas must detect the sweet milk scent and know it’s meaning, as she doesn’t ask how Dean knows that she is pregnant. Instead she just says: “Crowley is planning to sell it. That’s why I was never disappointed when I never got pregnant before. I didn’t want the pup to grow up like I did.”

“Well it will be hard for him to do that since we're leaving as soon as your back heals.” Dean declared. “No more of this fucking bullshit. I'm not letting that bastard touch you again. I promise you, Cas: we’ll make it out of here and when we do, our pup won’t grow up living in a fucking cage” 

As Dean is saying this, Cas pulls herself up into a sitting position. And Dean catches the winces of pain as she moves. But every time Dean would try to tell Cas to stay where she is, Cas gives him a look that tells Dean that she will do as she wants. 

“You have a plan?” Cas asks. A new determination, possibly a bit of hope, shinning in Cas’s eyes.

“Been working on it.”  Dean admitted.  Cas pulls herself up from where she was sitting and moves over to her cot. It was then that Dean noticed the contents underneath the cot. It looked like Cas had a basket under the cot that contained a few changes of clothing, books, and a few other items that Dean can’t identify. It is with a pang to his stomach that Dean realizes that the tiny basket contains all of Cas’s possessions. Reaching beneath the cot, Cas pulls out a small canvas bag. Cas returns back to her sleeping bag and opens the bag, she removes what appears to be a pair of small notebooks. 

“Crowley gave me these for ‘being good’.” Cas nearly spat out the words and Dean decides not to question what exactly that Cas had to do to earn the small notebooks. “Fortunately, he never decided to try to read them. Not that he actually could.” Dean must have had a questioning look on his face, because Cas explains:  “Before I was taken from my family, my siblings and I made up our own code that we would use to write things we didn’t want other people to read.”

Cas also removes a single piece of paper from the bag that Dean realizes is the translation guide to cipher the two notebooks. She studies them for a moment before Cas reaches through the bars of her cage, in her hand is one of her notebooks and the code paper to translate it.

“You’ll probably will want this to plan an escape.” Cas says as a way of explaining her actions. Dean takes it from her and looks over the small notebook. It’s a pink diary, with butterflies on the cover; the type of diary that might be owned by any young girl in the pack. It hits home that Cas had really been a little girl, growing up in this hell. Had she had anyone to explain to her what was happening to her as she grew and changed? Had anyone explained to her what was happening when she presented as an omega? Had Cas been scared the first time that she began to produce slick, or the first time she had her Omega bleedings? 

At first Dean feels slightly odd about invading Cas’s privacy by looking into the small diary. But he consoles himself by reminding himself that Cas wanted him to see it. When Dean looks at the pages of the diary, he is surprised that Cas has it full of map perfect diagrams of the compound and he guesses to be notes about their captors. It would take him a bit to translate the pages. 

“You’ve been studying them all this time?”  Dean amazed at the level of detail Cas has put into her maps. 

“Had to have something to do.” Cas explains nonchalantly; as if it was the most obvious thing to do. “Humans are creatures of habit and routine. And their arrogance about their ‘superior intellect’ is often their downfall. But it’s hard to execute an escape attempt alone.” 

“So why are you showing me these? What if I snitched to Crowley about this Diary?” Dean asks, wondering why Cas seems to trust him with this when it is a risk that he could betray her. As Dean had been studying the pages of the diary, Cas had sifted positions so that she is laying down again. The wounds on her back ae bleeding again as she must have reopened them when she moved to the cot. 

“You won’t. You wouldn’t have done all that you have if you’re Crowley’s snitch. Besides, I like to think I’m good judge of people and you seem like a good person, Dean.” 

 


	9. Chapter 9

It took about three days for Cas’s back to heal enough for her to be able to move without risking reopening the wounds; and five days for her to so without pain. During that time, the two teens had spent their time plotting their escape attempt. Fortunately, no one had caught on to the fact that Cas is with pup during those days. Although Cas mentioned that she thought Crowley is getting suspicious of the fact that Dean was being cooperative and increasingly protective of Cas. Crowley had made Cas take a human pregnancy test every day after they had been forced to try to breed. And Dean and Cas had to laugh to themselves every time it came up negative, as shifter hormones differ from a human’s making the test invalid.

Their plan is coming together and although Dean is confident that it will work, he can’t help but be slightly nervous about it.  The plan requires precise timing and the humans to not be too smart in order to work. Cas is more confident that it will work as she says that Azazel and Alistair are mostly hired muscle: no brain, just brawn.  Finally the day arrived that Dean and Cas decided to put their plan into action.

“Remember: no mercy.” Dean reminds Cas as they prepare to put their plan into action. Cas just nods and assumes her position. Her heart is pounding so hard that Cas doesn’t have to do much to make herself seem like she is having panic attack. It took Cas a few moments to get her breathing to the rate that it needed to be; her body twitching as if she is going into shock or having a seizure. Once Dean is satisfied that Cas’s act looks convincing; he braces himself for the next part of the plan.

 He moves to the side of his cage that is closes to the door and braces himself for the shock that he knows will be coming. With a deep breath, Dean begins to yell: “Help!” While banging on the bars of his cage.

“Something is wrong with Cas.” Dean says when Azazel and Alistair come into the door.

“What’s going on?” Azazel asks as he moves over to Cas’s cage.

“She’s suffering from an incomplete bond.” Dean reports “She started to form a bond during her heat and it wasn’t completely formed. She needs to be knotted in her other form or she’ll get worse.”  Alistair and Azazel both looked unsure; as they obviously don’t know any more about shifter biology than Crowley. So Dean dives in for the kill:  "You want her to die on your watch? Do you want to be responsible for that? Because that’s what is going to happen if you don't allow her to shift.” Dean asks, knowing from Cas’s notes that the two men are actually afraid of Crowley. 

Azazel unlocked the door to Cas’s cage, Dean had to work hard to control his smile as the humans are playing right into their plan. Had Alistair gone into Cas’s cage instead they could have been in trouble as he is bigger than Azazel and could be harder for Cas to fight.  As Dean was hoping Azazel actually unlocked Cas’s collar; allowing Cas to shift into wolf form. Cas did so, all the while never breaks her act.  And Dean wants to put her in for an Oscar nomination.

“I need to be in wolf form too.” Dean said, as Alistair unlocked his cage; hoping that they’ll be stupid enough to unlock his collar. Alistair obviously isn’t too bright as he unlocks the collar around Dean’s throat.  Dean makes a momentary check that the doors to the cages are open.

‘Stupid humans’ was Dean’s final thought before he shifts into wolf form. His front paws don’t even touch the ground before he is launching himself at Alistair. In a coordinated move, Cas springs up from where she had been laying and launches herself onto Azazel. Given that Azazel wasn’t expecting Cas to attack; he is unprepared for the large wolf pouncing on him.  Once Cas had Azazel on the ground, the man had almost no chance as Cas launches an attack of claws and teeth.  

Crowley appears in the door, apparently to check on the commotion he undoubtedly heard. And Dean has a moment of panic that Crowley would shut the doors of the cages, effectively trapping them again. But Crowley apparently values self-preservation over brains; and runs from the room.

 _“He’s mine.”_ Cas growls as she takes off after Crowley; only pausing long enough to swipe her long claws across Azazel’s throat, effectively ending the man’s fight. She then runs from the cage that she was forced to call home for so long. Once Cas gets out of the room, Dean knows he needs to end his fight with Alistair; as Cas might need back up. Dean follows Cas’s lead and claws out Alistair’s throat. But before Dean has a chance to go after Cas to see if she needs help subduing Crowley, Cas appears in the doorway.  She is carrying a bag, and is covered in blood.  But upon closer inspection, Dean realizes that none of it is Cas’s blood.  Dean doesn’t have to ask by the look on Cas’s face that Crowley is dead; so instead he asks:

“What’s in the bag?”  

Cas eyes the bag with a measure of distain. “The money that the bastard collected, in advance, for our pup. I figured it rightfully belongs to us and our pup.”  

“How much is it?” Dean couldn’t help but ask; wondering just how much Crowley got for their pup.

“Crowley paid Alistair and Azazel for ‘procuring’ an Alpha out of it. But it should be approximately $250,000.”

“Wow.” Is all Dean can say as he begins to pillage the body at his feet. Cas moved back over to her cage to retrieve the canvas bag from under her cot and stashed the money bag into it. She also grabbed the clothes that she had stashed in her basket as the clothes they had been wearing had been shredded when they had shifted into their wolf forms.  One pair of the sweats were oversized enough that Cas figured would fit Dean. 

Cas hands the canvas bag off to Dean for him to put in some of the items he picked off the bodies, as she moves to an old utility sink in the corner of the room and begins cleaning the blood off of her. Once she has finished and redressed, she moves over to the door where Dean is keeping watch. Cas hands Dean the bundle of clothing and moves to keep watch giving a chance for Dean to clean himself up. Even though Crowley and cronies are laying dead in pools of their own blood, they know that they have to move fast as Meg or even Zachariah could show up at any time.

After Dean finished washing the blood off and dressing, the two teens quietly made their way down the hallway towards the exit. Dean is glad that Cas had taken such detailed notes on the layout of the building as he discovers is a labyrinth of corridors. After a couple dozen twists and turns they make it to the door going outside.

Among the items that Dean picks off of Alistair’s body is a set of keys. Dean goes from vehicle to vehicle and finds that the keys fit an older Ford pickup.

“Gate’s locked.” Cas noted as Dean begins checking out the road worthiness of the truck.

“I’ve got an idea. Did you get any other keys off Crowley or Azazel?” Dean asks Cas as he checks the lock on the gate. The gate is locked by way of a chain and padlock; and glancing through the keys on Alistair’s keychain: Dean knows that Alistair doesn’t have a key to the gate on that keychain.

“Yeah. I got Crowley’s.” Cas says as she produces a keychain from the canvas bag.

“Great. You find which one is Crowley’s. I’ll take care of the gate.” Dean says as he get into the truck. Using the bed of the truck as a battering ram, Dean rams through the gate.  The gate gave way surprisingly easy; eliminating the final barrier between them and freedom.  By time Dean drives the truck back to where it was parked, Cas is already in Crowley’s Mercedes. 

Before Dean gets out of the truck, he spies the rifles mounted in the gun rack behind the seats. A couple weapons might be a good thing to have as it will ensure that people will leave them alone without Dean or Cas having to reveal their other forms. They have already agreed that their best bet is to travel as humans as much as possible. As Dean gets out of the truck, he removes the rifles from the rack, as well as a box of ammo. Going over to Crowley's car, Dean opens the trunk and stows the weapons inside.

Getting into the car, Dean fires up the engine; intent on putting as many miles between them and this hellhole as he can before even thinking about stopping for anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is greatly appreciated by starving writers ;-)


	10. take me home

Once they get out of Crowley’s compound, the two teens turn their attention on trying to determine their exact location.  The immediate area is wilderness, with nothing to indicate exactly where they are. Eventually, Dean makes it to a main road. The road sign indicates that they are in Maine, although at the moment Dean has no idea how he got here from his pack lands.

As they drive down the road, Dean notices that Cas keeps her eyes tightly closed.  

“Don’t want to watch the road? I’m not that bad of a driver, am I?” Dean asks; he means it to be a joke; so when Cas answers him he is not expecting the answer she gives.

“The sunlight hurts my eyes. I don’t think that I’ve _seen_ the sun in almost five years.”  

Dean reaches over and lowers the sun visor to give Cas some reprieve from the sun. Cas notices that the light has lost much of it’s intensity, and cautiously opens her eyes. She stares out the windshield, almost in awe, at the trees and other plants lining the road. Dean can relate to how Cas feels, although it hadn’t been nowhere near as long for Dean, he knows that he will never again take for granted the outdoors.  It seems like even though the direct sunlight is blocked, Cas can only tolerate the brightness for a few minutes at a time and eventually has to shut her eyes again. Dean makes a note to buy Cas some sunglasses at the next stop. 

Finally they come to a gas station and decide that they have made it far enough that it could be safe to stop.  Cas realizes that they are stopping as she opens her eyes again to see why they’re stopping.

“Need a bathroom break plus thought we’d get some food for the road.” Dean says as an explanation to Cas’s unasked question.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Cas asks instead. She is clearly worried about them driving into a trap.

“We’ve driven about sixty miles, and haven’t had anyone follow us. I’d say we’re as safe as we can be until we get out of Maine.” Dean parks on the far edge of the lot, away from the station. That way it draws less attention from the clerks.

“We’ll use the restroom and get some food. I’ll look for a map to try to plan our way out of here.” Dean explains. The more planned out they are, the less likely it is that they’ll be caught.  Cas just nods her head, as she prepares to get out of the car. Dean knows that Cas is on edge, not only about getting caught but going into a public place for the first time since she before she was captured. 

They get out of the car and head towards the station. As they walk towards the doors, Dean’s arm, on it’s own volition or at least that’s what Dean will swear to, wraps itself around Cas’s shoulders. It’s their first physical contact since they had been forced to breed, and Dean takes comfort in the fact that Cas doesn’t shy away from his touch. In fact he swears that she actually snuggled closer to his side. When they enter the gas station, Dean guides them towards the sign above the restrooms. Cas seems to pause for a moment outside the women’s before gathering her courage to go in. Dean waits for a moment outside the door in case Cas would need some assurance; before going into the men’s room to take care of business.

Once Dean leaves the restroom, he notices that Cas is no longer in the gas station. He has a moment of panic, thinking that something has happened to Cas; but before he can act on it, a feeling of calm comes over him. It takes him a few minutes to realize that it is coming from Cas. Despite not having been properly mated yet, Cas seems to have been able to tap into some kind of bond between them. Possibly, their pup is allowing them to create a bond. Dean has never heard of that happening before, but he had also never heard of a shifter being pregnant that isn’t mated. And right now, the bond is telling him that Cas has simply gone back to the car; she had been freaked out by being in public.

So knowing that Cas is safe, Dean moves through the aisles of the store; selecting various food items for him and Cas. Since he doesn’t know what Cas might want he grabs a bit of everything on the shelves. When he gets to the counter the clerk gives him an odd look at the amount of merchandise he places on the counter. As Dean is making his purchases, the newspapers in the stand catches his eye. He couldn’t tell anyone what the headline article is even about; as the date is blaring out at him: April 26, 1996. It was the beginning of April when he had been taken; meaning that he has been gone for over three weeks. It bothers him that he isn’t sure exactly how long it had taken for him to be brought to Crowley’s compound or exactly how long he had been held there; as he has no memories beyond his time in the cage. All he knows is that he needs to try to contact his family as soon as he can to let them know that he is at least alive.

There is a payphone outside the convenience store, so Dean digs into his pocket for change to try to call home. But once he reaches the payphone, Dean notices a sign stating that the phone is out of order.  Dean almost growls in frustration but manages to catch himself before his alpha can react; and continues to the car.  Dean places the bags into the backseat, as they can pick through them as they get hungry. Cas is sitting in the front seat, studying an atlas map that she found in the car.

“Find anything interesting?” Dean asks as gets back into the car.

“Dean, do you know why my old pack is marked with a cross?” Cas asks as she studies the page. Dean moves to look at the page and Cas hands over the atlas. Looking at the atlas, Dean realizes that it is a pack map. They are used to mark pack lands across the country. Dean studies the page that Cas was looking at, and sure enough on the pack lands in Pontiac Illinois is a cross and the date: October 25, 1985.  It is then that Dean realizes that Cas had belonged to the Pontiac Pack.

Dean remembers hearing about the massacre of the Pontiac Pack. He was only six years old at the time, so his parents had obviously tried to keep the horrific details from him. But he had heard enough of the meetings his Dad had had with some of the Pack Alphas from neighboring packs.  The massacre had to have happened the night that Cas had been taken captive.

Humans that lived around the Pack territory hadn’t liked the fact that their neighbors weren’t human. They also wanted to expand their own lands and wanted the Shifters gone. It started with attacks on the outlying homes of pack members who actually cultivated the land and raised animals for the packs food supply.  The pack members had tried to escape to the main settlement. But many were killed or, in Cas’s case at least, captured as they tried to run. Some must have made it to the settlement, as the Pack Alpha had summoned everyone to the meeting house. From what details that had spread, the pack had been prepared for someone to come in to attack; but the humans had another plan. They had barricaded the door to the meeting house and set it ablaze.  To Dean’s knowledge very few members of Cas’s pack had managed to survive that night. 

“That night, humans around the pack lands massacred the Pack.” Dean knows that to Cas it wasn’t just cold facts. These people were her family and friends. People who she had known all of her life at that point. Dean hates being the one to tell Cas that almost everyone she had known is dead.

“How did it happen?” Cas seemed to be shell shocked.

“They burned the meeting house with everyone inside.”  Dean said, the images of fire and burned corpses had haunted his nightmares for a while after hearing about the massacre.

“They burned the _church_?”  Cas asks, seemingly more in shock of the manner to which the pack had met their deaths. “Did- did anyone survive?”  

“Very few. I’m not sure how many exactly, but I think I heard my Dad say that only three managed to survive.” At Dean’s answer, Cas covered her face with her hands, like she wanted to hide, and her shoulders began to shake with quiet sobs. Dean reached over and pulled Cas into an embrace. It was kind of awkward with the center console in-between them, but Dean didn’t care: his mate needed comforting so he was willing to do whatever is necessary to comfort her.   Cas pressed her face into Dean’s neck, leaving the skin there wet from her tears; as she grieved the loss of her pack.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know another short chapter. But I couldn't figure out a better way to break down my notes for this story.   
> As always comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated.


	11. chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took me forever to get finished as inspiration on this story seems to be slowly leaving me. So any feedback in the way of kudos and especially comments are greatly appreciated as they help encourage me to keep this story going.

After they’ve been back on the road for a few hours since the stop at the gas station, Dean notices that Cas keeps her gaze on her hands that are demurely resting on her lap. While Cas has never struck Dean as a conversationalist, she’s been notably quiet since their conversation earlier about Cas’s old pack. In fact she had barely moved since they had left the gas station.

“You ok, Cas?” Dean asked the breathing statue in the passenger seat.

“I just learned that almost every one I knew is dead.  Would you be ok after that?” There is no attitude in Cas’s voice, meaning that Cas’s question is a genuine one.

“No. I’m sorry that I had to drop that bombshell on you.”  Dean apologized. He had caused Cas so much grief over the time that they’ve known each other, that Dean wonders why Cas isn’t ready to get as far away from him as she possibly could.

“You answered my questions, Dean. So it isn’t your fault.” Cas replies, always ready to forgive. Cas seems like the type to apologize for being in the way if someone else stepped on her foot. Dean is about to comment on that when he hears Cas mumble something else.  “I guess, in a way, it’s kind of a small comfort.”

“What do you mean?”  Dean asked, surprised that Cas would even consider saying something like that.

“Growing up… before Crowley… I was always told that- my family wasn’t looking for me. They always made it out to be that my family just didn’t want me... Now I know that it was simply because there was nobody to look for me.  And the members that did survive: probably didn’t even know that I wasn’t in the church. ”

“I’m sure they would’ve looked for you, Cas. Maybe the survivors did look for you and that they were lying to you.” Dean assured her. It now made sense to Dean why Cas had seemed like she had been trying to convince herself that her family hadn’t just abandoned her to the hell that was her life growing up. A new layer of hatred forms in Dean at the people who had been so cruel to Cas; he knew that they were trying to break her spirit by their cruel words. Dean can only hope that eventually Cas can rebuild her confidence.

Dean noticed that Cas was looking at him now, so he gives her the best smile he could and was met with a fragile smile in return. Cas then turned her gaze towards the passenger window and the scenery passing her by. She seemed so deep in her thoughts that Dean couldn’t help but ask: “Penny for your thoughts?”

"I don't have a pack to go home to anymore; so I was wondering what I was going to do.” Cas says never taking her eyes away from the passing scenery. Dean realizes that they had never really discussed the plan for after they had escaped. He had assumed that Cas would go home with him, eventually become his mate, and together they would raise their pup in the freedom that all shifters are supposed to have.  

“You can come home with me. Be a member of my pack. I mean our pup deserves to at least know both its parents. That is, if that’s what you want?” Dean asks; suddenly nervous about what Cas’s answer will be.  Cas seems to contemplate her options, her fingers brushing her stomach lightly as she seemed far away. While Dean knew that she frequently thought about their pup, she had never allowed herself to make even the smallest twitches that might indicate the growing pup within her; she had been so worried that Crowley would catch the action and discover their secret.

“I’d like that.” Eventually came the quiet answer. And Dean is sure that his heart nearly jumped out of his chest with excitement of the possibility of still having a chance to make Cas his mate.

“OK. Let’s go home then.” Dean said as he turned his attention to the road.  His reached across the car and gently took Cas’s hand; he is happy to feel Cas’s fingers flex around his in what could only be a squeeze. With this encouraging sign of a possibly of them being able to have a life together, a smile unconsciously formed on Dean’s face.

*********

26 year old Gabriel wirily enters the small house that he called home. He had put in a full day’s worth of work tending the grounds that had once been the sight of the his old pack’s settlement. While use to the demands of the work, being at the site had brought up a lot of memories that had physically worn him down.

The remains of the church was still there. The shell of the building had been made out of stone, and therefore didn’t burn like the interior and roof.  Outside the ruins is a cemetery. At the edge of the cemetery stood a large grave marker with a small fence surrounding a large plot.  The bodies from the church fire had been buried in a mass grave; as many couldn’t immediately be identified. When the bodies had been removed from the church, Gabriel had been standing there; watching for the bodies of his family. Of the bodies that had been identified, most of his family had been found.  And the ones that had been missing, with the exception of Castielle, there was a body that was suspected to be them.  

The only other exception was Luke. The firefighters had been surprised when they had found Luke in the debris of the church; he had been severely burned but he was alive. During the fire, the space where Luke had been turned out to be his salvation. Luke was the only one who was brought out of the church alive. Luke had been standing next to the fireplace towards the rear of the church. When the ceiling collapsed, the chimney had prevented the roof from hitting Luke, and he had been able to get fresh air from the flue pipe. Once he was rescued, Luke had spent months in and out of medical treatment, trying to recover enough to live as normal of a life as he could.

The town of Pontiac had recognized the pack massacre as the evil act that it was and anyone that had a provable connection to it did face justice.  After the final conviction, the town had officially apologized to the surviving members of the pack and had urged them to stay and possibly rebuild the pack. At first, none of them could stay as the sight of the church and the memories of that night had been too painful to face.  Gabriel was the only one who could return to the settlement site; mostly because he owed it to his pack to tend to the area and make sure that their deaths wouldn’t be forgotten. And while he; and the others who survived that night, had been taken in by members of a neighboring pack, it would never be a total replacement of the home that they had lost.

Moving to the tiny room that he has set up for storage, Gabriel skillfully makes his way over to a trunk in the back corner of the room that is slowly collecting dust. The trunk contained everything that he had been able to collect from the ruins of his pack.

Opening the trunk in the back of room, Gabriel removes the sheet that is folded on top. Underneath the sheet, resting among the other items the chest, is a child’s doll.  Gabriel picked up the toy and can’t help but examine it; wishing not for the first time that it could reveal what it knew about what had happened to its owner.  If Gabriel tries hard enough, he believes that he can still detect the faint scents of strawberries and lavender on the doll’s dress.  Around the doll’s neck is a necklace, the same one that Castielle had been wearing that night. It had been her birthday present that year, one that Castielle had worn every day.

Gabriel sees, not for the first time, the blood spots on the doll’s dress. Gabriel had thought that the doll had simply been abandoned by Castielle in an effort to run faster; but now he knew that his baby sister was hurt. He knew that she hadn’t died in the field, but he isn’t sure if she had made it to the church either.  The last time Gabriel could actually remember seeing Castielle was as they left the house. Gabriel had noticed that Castielle hadn’t been wearing her shoes and had wanted to pick her up so she didn’t cut her feet on the thistles in the grass. But since he was the fastest runner, his father told him to run to the settlement and get help.  He had hoped that maybe Michael or Luke or even their father would notice that Castielle didn’t have any shoes and help her but maybe they didn’t notice.

Upon arriving at the Alpha’s house, He had told Gabriel to summon everyone that he could to go to the church. He had done as the Alpha had wanted and ran from house to house raising the alarm.  He had been on the way back to the Church with his younger cousin Balthazar when they saw the church go up in flames. Gabriel knows that the sounds of the screaming, especially those of the pups, will haunt him forever.  Gabriel had wanted to go help his pack, but the humans were waiting outside ready to eliminate any survivors that somehow escaped the fire. Instead, he had immediately grabbed his cousin and told him to run back the way they had come.  

They had circled around the settlement. And when they reached the fields that separated them from the house where Gabriel had grown up, which is also now in flames, they shifted into their wolf forms and ran full pelt across the field; keeping low to the ground as they ran.  Gabriel is halfway across the field, when he trips over something in the field. He turned to see exactly what had caused him to stumble, and discovered it to be a child’s doll. One that he recognized as the one Castielle had in her arms as they had left the house. Right next to the doll had been the necklace; the clasp had been broken as if it had been violently removed from around Castielle’s neck.

Shaking his head to try clear the memories, Gabriel puts the doll back into the trunk. But as he does that, a framed photograph catches his attention. One of the very few items that had survived the fire that had been set at his house. It was a photo of him and his siblings. In he was sitting with his older brothers, on the steps to the front porch. Castielle, who was only four in the photo, is sitting next to him; his arm was wrapped around her tiny shoulders. 

While Gabriel tries to not think about the lives his siblings didn’t get to live, the lack of a body makes it impossible to not think about Castielle. If Castielle is still alive, she would be sixteen years old now. She would’ve presented by now; and while their parents didn’t believe in testing their children to determine their orientation, everyone knew the little girl would be an omega. She was too sweet, too timid, to be anything else. The only trait that had given anyone pause to being certain about Castielle’s orientation was her intelligence; as she was too smart for her own good. She had begun school, or at least Rachel’s version of school, when she was only four years old. At the time of the attack was able to read and do the school work of the first graders.

 Gabriel has to put the frame down to wipe away the moisture on his cheeks that Gabriel would swear was from dust getting into his eyes, although there is no one here to confront him about his tears.


	12. chapter 12

Once they get out of Maine, Dean decides they need to stop again for supplies. When he gets to a small city, Dean notices a K-Mart; and turns the car into the parking lot. Cas turns her attention to Dean; and while she doesn’t say anything, a question is clear in her face.

“We need to get some more normal clothes. I don’t know about you: but I’m ready to get rid of any reminders of Crowley as soon as possible.”

Cas looks down at her own sweats, and has to agree with Dean that it might be good to get new clothes. The only time Crowley ever gave her new clothing is when her old clothes were either way too small or so badly worn that they are unusable. And her shoes were only a worn pair of flip-flops.

“Ok. That would be good.” Cas says as Dean parks the car.

As they get out of the car and head towards the store, Cas again needs nonverbal assurance to keep from freaking out at being in public. Inside the store, Cas is overwhelmed by the selections. The last time she had been in a department store was almost three weeks before she had been captured. She had gone with her mother and sisters to Hills Department Store. They had recently gone through their warmer clothes and were needing to fill in the gaps in the wardrobes. Shaking her head to clear the memories from her mind, Cas knows that if she thinks too much about her family: she will not be able to contain her emotions. 

While Dean only really needs supplies for the trip back to Kansas; Castielle has nothing of her own. So they move to the women’s section first. Dean at first wants to allow Cas to make the decisions about the clothing she wants, but it is soon clear that Cas is overwhelmed. So Dean starts to pick out various sizes of clothing, knowing that Cas will need larger clothing eventually as the pup inside her grows. That, and Dean intends to see Cas gain a more healthy weight; as the Omega is nearly skin and bones.

“That’s a lot of clothes.” Cas comments, noting the amount of clothing that Dean has put in the cart.

“Well, you don’t have anything; Cas. And since Crowley’s money is paying for this, then you might as well get exactly what you want.” Dean explains.  With that, Cas seems to find the confidence to begin selection her own clothes.

Eventually, they decide they have enough clothing and move towards the fitting rooms; as Dean insisted that Cas try on the clothing before they bought it. They get the pile of clothes whittled down to a workable pile. Then, they move on to getting toiletries, that task goes much quicker as Cas didn’t need much help selecting the ones she wanted as Crowley had given her those types of items before. The only thing that really caused Cas to pause is selecting what kind of toothpaste she wanted, as she didn’t see the generic brand that Crowley always gave her.  She had taken Dean’s suggestion and decides on a brand of toothpaste.

As they move towards the checkout counters, Dean notices the display of sunglasses. 

“Do you want a pair, Cas? “ Dean asks, pointing out the sunglasses.

“Why would I want those?” Cas asked, not understanding why Dean would suggest getting a non-essential item.

“They’ll help protect your eyes from the sun. That way you won’t have to keep them closed all the way to Lawrence.” Dean explains, knowing that Cas had never had anything that wasn’t vital to life. Like with the clothes, it takes a bit for Cas to decide on a pair that she likes. Dean knows that it is because Cas is not accustom to having choices. He makes a conscious decision to not push Cas into making a decision. She needed to learn how to make decisions for herself. Soon, Cas seems to decide on a pair that she likes and the two teens decide that it was time to leave. 

“Want to get some lunch?” Dean asks as they leave the store.  They had stopped in the restroom before leaving the store, and changed into some more normal clothes. Dean wants nothing more than to burn the clothing that Crowley had given them.

“Alright.” Cas says.

“Ok. Why don’t we put the bags in the car and then try the Mexican place over there?” Dean asked.

“Ok.”

Soon they are seated at a table in the restaurant. Cas’s eyes wandering around the interior, taking in every detail of the tiny restaurant.  Cas had never been to a restaurant before; even before she was captured, her family had never really had the money to be spent in a restaurant. A happy meal at the McDonald’s in Pontiac had been a special treat. 

In addition to constantly looking around the room, Dean notices Cas picking at hem of the blue top that she is wearing. “You ok?”

“This is all new to me.” Cas explains, stilling her movements. Dean knows that there is a lot of things that Cas had missed out on in life; and wonders just how much it will take to get Cas caught up on life that she missed.

Lunch passes quietly; as they are both caught in their own thoughts. After lunch, they’re back on the road. They drive until it gets dark; before they reach a small town with a roadside motel and decide to stop for the night.

“Do you want to mate me, Dean?” Cas asks when they are sitting in the motel room later that night. The question had come out of nowhere making Dean wonder just where Cas intended to go with the question.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Cas. I would like to have you as my mate.” Several unreadable emotions flashed across Cas’s face at the answer. “But only if that is what you want.” Dean assures her, when Cas looks away and refuses to make eye contact.               

“How can you possibly want me? I’m not good enough of an Omega to be your mate.” Cas says, her eyes glistening with tears.

“Cas, how can you say that? When we conceived our pup, I realized that you are the mate meant for me.”

“You were in a rut, Dean. You weren’t responsible for your actions. As you said to me, if it wasn’t for the drugs: would you have wanted to knot me?”

“Cas, they didn’t give me anything.” Dean admits; thinking that this is the moment that Cas could either want to be rid of him or will realize that Dean is being sincere on his devotion to wanting to be her mate. “My Alpha has wanted you ever since I breathed your scent. It took over during my rut, and is adamant about claiming you. I usually don’t go for the touchy feely stuff, but it’s said that is how one finds their true mate.”

“I’m damaged goods, Dean.” And just like that, they’re at the root of Cas’s insecurities. "You deserve to have a mate to come to you a virgin.  I haven’t been a virgin since I was a little girl.”  

“Cas, did you want them to do what they did to you?” Dean gently asks. He already knew the answer to his question, but he wants Cas to actually say it.

“No.” Cas quietly answers.

“Do you want me to do this?” Dean as he ran a gentle hand up Cas’s thigh, stopping at Cas’s hip.  Cas nods her head as she reacts to Dean’s touch. “Cas, this is your decision to do this. The times before, those things, they were done _to you_. You didn’t get a say in what happened. So, as far as I’m concerned, until you decide that _you_ want this… then you’re as much of a virgin as any girl who has never been touched. From this point on, what happens to you is your decision. And that is especially true when it comes to sex, Cas.”  

“I want this, Dean.” Cas admits quietly, “I’m not going to pretend that I’m not nervous. Almost all of the memories I have of this kind of thing are filled with pain and fear. But, I trust you Dean; and I know you won’t hurt me.”

Dean brings his hands up to cup each side of Cas’s face. “We’ll go slow, and if it becomes too much I want you to tell me. Ok?” 

Cas nods her head again and Dean bends his neck to press a gentle kiss on her lip. The kiss began chaste enough; but soon Dean began to move his lips slowly easing Cas’s mouth open. He slips the tip of his tongue into Cas’s mouth; and is surprised when Cas immediately grants him access.   As Dean deepened the kiss, he slipped his hand under Cas’s shirt. Cas tensed for a moment at the feel of Dean’s hand on her stomach; but before Dean could pull his hand back, Cas leans into his touch. So knowing that Cas would stop him if she doesn’t want this: Dean begins to pull the shirt up; cheering inwardly when Cas lifts her arms to help him fully remove the shirt, revealing her lace-covered breasts.

Dean began placing gentle kisses on Cas’s shoulder; before following the outline of the bra down Cas’s chest. He then begins to tease Cas’s nipples through the fabric and lace. Cas’s breath hitched causing her chest to heave with pleasure.  Soon, Cas’s bra was soaked through with not only saliva, but with milk. Unlike humans, who only begin to produce milk after their baby is born; Omegas begin producing milk shortly after conception.

Dean fumbles with the hooks in the back of the bra for a moment before getting them undone. Cas reaches up and slips the straps off her shoulders, allowing the garment to fall to the floor in front of her; revealing the milky skin of her breasts. Cas is about to attempt to cover herself, to preserve her modesty; but Dean stops her before she could.

“You’re so beautiful.” Dean tells Cas; causing her to blush. A blush that spreads down to her chest, causing the pale skin to turn pink. Little beads of milk have formed on Cas’s nipples, Dean brings one into his mouth and gently suckles; loving the sweet, buttery taste of Cas’s milk.  

Without missing a beat, Dean lifts Cas up in his arms before lowering Cas down on the bed. Dean can smell panic from Cas for a moment. But before he has a chance to get off of Cas, she has her hands on his hips, encouraging him on in his actions. Dean allowed his hands to wonder over Cas’s body; mapping it out with his hands. Cas is exploring his body on her own. But while Dean’s movements are confident; Cas’s are timid, almost innocent.    

Dean props himself up on his hands, pinning Cas between his arms.

Dean feels like he is looking down at an angel; as Cas has to be the most beautiful being he had ever had the privilege of seeing. He bends his neck and begins lavishing Cas’s breasts with attention again. The little beads of milk have formed again and Dean starts licking and suckling at Cas’s nipples again; coaxing more milk from the nipple in his mouth.

Dean feels Cas’s fingers run through his hair; almost holding him in place as he eagerly suckled Cas’s breast; gaining several moans of pleasure from Cas as he does so. She couldn't get enough, as if all this touching made up for the years of affection neglect, with no one to hug or hold or love since she was five years old. And Dean discovers how good it can be to make someone else feel good, especially if you cared about them.

They spend hours just making out and touching each other. Neither pushing for more, as Dean isn’t about to push Cas into something that she isn’t ready for; and Cas doesn’t seem ready for more. Eventually, they fell asleep in a tangle of limbs, unable to be apart from each other.

The next morning, Dean is woken up by the sunlight shining through a gab in the curtains. Cas is curled up on her side facing away from Dean. Neither of them had bothered to dress before they went to sleep. It’s the first time that Dean could actually see the full extent of the damage to Cas’s body.

Her back is basically a canvas of scars.  In addition to the whip marks, there are several circular burn scars running down her spine. Since they are perfectly symmetrical Dean guesses that they were made by the same instrument. Without fully realizing what he is doing, Dean reaches out and gently touches the scars. His fingers tracing the scars, drawing a line from one scar to the next.  

“Cigarette burns.” Cas said; feeling Dean touch the scars.  “The people that had me before Crowley use to like to put their cigarettes out on my back. They’re hideous, I know.”

Dean bends his neck and presses a kiss to every scar. He wishes that he could take away every scar from Cas. But Dean silently promises Cas that she will never have anyone inflict those type of scars to her again.

“We’ll get some breakfast before we hit the road. Sound good?” Dean asks.  Cas just nods, and makes a move to get up. But Dean tightens his grip around Cas’s middle and presses a kiss to her jawline before letting Cas up.

Both teens get up and proceed to get dressed and packed up to be ready for another long day’s drive to get back to Lawrence.


	13. chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow. It's been a while since the last update. Writer's block is trying hard to kill this story so please leave comments and kudos to encourage me to keep going with this story.

After indulging in the hotel breakfast, the two teens are back on the road.  As the countryside passes by them, Dean and Cas lapse into a companionable silence. Cas seems a lot more at ease than what she was yesterday.  She even allows herself to slouch in her seat and draws one of her legs up in front of her.

It is then that Dean notices the scars on and below Cas’s knee.  They looked like she had grains of rice stuck to her knees.  Dean reached over and rubs her knee, the unspoken question clear.  

“The people before Crowley liked to test me to see how well I could learn. At the end of every day, I was forced to kneel on grains of rice as they drilled me on what I was taught that day.”  Like every other time before, once Cas started talking about her past: it seems like the dam broke, and she can’t stop talking about the past.  “It’s not so bad at first, but then the grains begin to dig into the skin and they start to bleed. If I moved or got a wrong answer, then I would get punished.”

“What kind of things did you have learn?” Dean wonders just how much Cas has learned and how much she would need to try to catch up on. If she even wanted to try to catch herself up on her education.

Cas has a wirily smile as she answers: “Did you know that there is over 171,000 word entries in the dictionary and that it takes about 30 notebooks to copy the entire thing?”

“You had to copy the dictionary?” Dean asks. It was the kind of thing that Grandpa Henry would’ve threaten to make them do for using slang too much. His grandfather had never followed through with the threat, although John claims he had when John was a child.

“Cover to cover. Or the encyclopedia. That was what I had to do most days. Unless Naomi came up with something that I would have to copy all day long.  And I would get punished if I didn’t write enough in between checks. I would get whipped with a belt; and then I would have to spend more time on the rice or be locked in my cage. But it wasn’t anything like the cage at Crowley’s.”

“What do you mean?”  Dean can’t help but ask. It's hard to think of the cages, but he dreads hearing that what Cas had to endure was worse.

“It was tiny cage. I had to be in human form, naked, I had to often lay either on my side or back with my knees in my chest; after a while I’d just go numb from lack of circulation. But to make sure that I didn’t just zone out, they would often dump things on me through the cage: Hot water, cold water, ice, other _things_ …” Cas trails off and Dean is sure that she is reliving the past in her head.  She doesn’t mention what the other things are, or the fact that bugs, or worse: mice, would sometimes crawl all over her.   

“I promise you, Cas: you’ll never have to see the inside of a cage again.”  Dean says, hoping to distract Cas from thoughts of her past. 

Cas just nods her head. Even though she is uncertain about the future, she is honestly looking forward to a life of freedom. 

A life where she would be able to do just even the simple things, like feeling the grass under her feet, and the bright sunshine on her skin. A life that she hasn’t had since she was only five years old.  She knows that her pup will be able to be free to grow up normally. And have all the things that she herself hadn’t had she never had the chance to have.  She silently promises her unborn pup that she will do anything to protect them.  

That was something that she can’t honestly say that her family had done for her.

Her own insecurities about her family’s attempt to rescue her and the information she had learnt over the last couple of days have her mind going in circles. She isn’t sure where her emotions lie in relation to her family. Castielle knows that it should be easier for her to accept that her family didn’t look for her because they simply couldn’t. But for some reason the new information only serves to make her angrier. Not so much angry at her family; as she can’t really identify a single target for her anger. But she had spent eleven years not knowing about her family’s deaths. Eleven years spent believing that she had simply been discarded, just something to best be forgotten. It is hard to leave those beliefs, pain, and insecurities behind her.  

She just hopes that Dean’s pack will at least accept her. Dean seems confident that they will; but she is not so sure.  As Cas has that thought, she looks over and subtly studies Dean. Her future mate; the Alpha who fathered the pup growing inside her.  She has to admit that Dean is certainly attractive. He’s tall with a muscular build. His sandy blond hair is short and he has a dusting of freckles on his cheeks and nose that seem to become more prominent the longer that they are exposed to the sun. And his eyes. God his eyes; they are a breathtaking green, the likes of which Cas has never seen before. They are about as distinctive as her own blue eyes.

 Castielle can’t help but wonder if their pup’s eyes will be Dean’s green or her blue.  Cas allows her mind to wonder to the pup. Will it be a boy or girl? What would the pup present as when it is time? Cas decides then that, for her at least, it doesn’t matter. Her pup is just that HERS, it is something that can’t be taken from her. Although it won’t be the same, her pup is her chance to rebuild her life with a family. As Cas thinks about her pup, her fingers gently begin tracing patterns along the hemline of her shirt that is resting against her lower abdomen.

That’s the rejection that she fears most: the pack rejecting her pup.  Cas knows that if the pack rejects the pup, they would do anything to rid themselves of it. The Pack Alpha would have to accept her and her pup in order for them to be safe from the pack.  She remembers the pack alpha from her childhood pack. He had been a firm and intimidating leader, who didn’t tolerate anything he dubbed insubordination.  Cas had always been a little scared of the Alpha as a pup and glad that her family lived on the boarders of the pack land.  The Alpha would have never accepted her pup or the fact that she had found her own mate.  

But according to Dean: chances are that the Alpha is dead. Dean had said that very few members of her pack had survived the night that she had been taken.  She has to wonder just who had survived; was it any of her family members? Any of her siblings?  Would she ever see anyone from her old pack again, and more importantly: would she want to?

 She knows that she isn’t the same as she was that night when she was taken; so it is safe to say those that also survived that night wouldn’t be the same.  What had they faced that night? What had happened to them over the last eleven years? If it was any of her siblings that survived, were they still around Pontiac? Were they mated and have pups of their own? Did they believe that she is dead? Is that why they never looked for her?

“You ok, Cas?” Dean asked; interrupting her thoughts.  Dean could see that Cas had been deep in thought for the past several minutes.  Her scent also has taken on hints of distress and fear that have his Alpha instincts trying to go into high gear.

“I’m not sure.” Cas answers.  It is an honest answer, as she isn’t sure how she is fairing.  “My mind seems to be a jumbled mess right now. I think it is still trying to process everything.”

Dean only nods his head; keeping his attention on the road.  He could only imagine what Cas is going through right now. Dean, at least, had a direction and plan for what happens next. He was returning home to his family and pack. Sure, it wouldn’t be the same: he is returning with his future mate and she is pregnant with his pup. But he knows that he is returning to people that would welcome him home. Cas didn’t have that comfort. The family she had once hoped to return to, she just learned is gone.  

Dean also knows that it will be a long road for Cas to adjust to life outside of cages. She has had to live in such appalling conditions for so long, that the simplest things are seen as the grandest luxuries. Dean remembers Cas’s reactions to simply taking a warm shower and sleeping in a bed. She had confided in Dean that her “showers” before varied from bucket of cold water dumped over her to being sprayed off with a hose. And even before being captured, her bed consisted of just a husk filled mattress and thick blankets.

Dean wonders how Cas is going to be able to adjust to have even the most basic freedoms again. She’ll finally be able to do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it. The basic comforts of food, shelter, proper clothing; are no longer going to be things that Cas has to long for; they will be provided for her.  But Dean also knows that as bad as it was for him as Crowley’s captive, it sounds that Cas’s life had been much worse than what Dean could possibly imagine. However, for Cas; that life was the life that she knew. The life she will have now is the scary unknown. But Dean vows that he will do whatever Cas needs him to in order to help her adjust to life on the outside.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this chapter took awhile. RL has been kicking my butt lately so I havent had a lot of time to work on this fic. 
> 
> So please be generous with the kudos and comments, as they are a great encouragement to keep this going.

The two teens are making good time as they drive towards Lawrence. Dean doesn’t pay much attention to the passing miles until he notices that Cas, who had been semi-relaxed, is tensing up. It is then that Dean realizes their close proximity to Pontiac Illinois.

  
''You want to stop?'' Dean asked. He knows that this might be one of Cas's few chances to get closure to what had happened to her and her family.

  
“Could we?” Cas asked, surprised that Dean had picked up on the desire that had been forming the closer they got to her former home.

  
“Yeah Cas. We can stop.” Dean said as he took the necessary turn to head towards Pontiac.

  
As they drove through the town, Cas begins to point out various locations that she had frequented with her family as a pup. Eventually, Cas sees a farmers market that her family use to run a stand in. While she has mixed feelings about going, Cas convinces Dean to stop.

  
****  
Gabriel couldn’t help but stare at the young woman as she moved from stand to stand in the farmer’s market. The girl’s resemblance to Castielle is astounding. While he had often seen girls that resembled his baby sister, further checking had always revealed that the girl wasn't Castielle. But as he moved closer to the girl, a familiar scent caught his attention: Strawberries and lavender. The combination of those two scents are uniquely Cas that for a moment, Gabriel is stunned.

  
“Good God, Cassie! Is that you? Is that really you?” Gabriel asks when he finally finds his voice. The girl immediately stopped, seemingly just as stunned as Gabriel to see him.

  
It takes Cas a few moments to figure out exactly who is standing in front of her. But then she is able to recognize the man’s scent; he smelled like freshly baked cookies and a sweetness that Cas could best describe as cotton candy. The two scents that Cas had always associated with her older brother

  
“Gabriel?” Cas asks. She is shell-shocked to see her older brother again. Part of her wants to throw herself into her older brother’s arms like she use to when she was small, but something holds her back. But Gabriel doesn’t seem to have the same problem as the next thing that Cas realizes Gabriel has his arms wrapped around her.

  
“I can’t believe much you’ve grown up.” Gabriel comments into her ear as he hugs her.

  
Cas has to bite the inside of her cheek to try to stifle the whimper of pain when Gabriel’s hands comes into contact with her back; aggravating her wounds. But she must have not been entirely successful as she can hear Dean begin to growl low in his throat; clearly warning Gabriel off.

  
Gabriel let her go, acknowledging the Alpha that is with his baby sister. After all, Gabriel is a Beta and if it came to a fight between the two; it would be no match. But it doesn’t stop Gabriel from sizing up the whelp. The young Alpha is taller than he is, and seems well defined in his muscles. But what really bothers Gabriel is that this Alpha is acting like Castielle is his mate.

  
Realistically, Gabriel knows that Castielle is sixteen now, but somehow all Gabriel can think about is the five year old pup that use to try to follow him around.  
Castielle had been such an adorable pup. All knobby- kneed and a gapped tooth smiles. Her dark hair always in pigtails. She had always been the type to want affection; often rushing him for a hug.

  
But Cassie had acted as if his touch had hurt her. And when Gabriel had hugged Castielle, he had thought he had noticed a new scent on her. It was too faint of a scent for Gabriel to be sure; but from what he can recognize of it, it almost smelled like sweet milk. It is one scent that she really shouldn’t have; she is too young to have a pup. But he pushes that thought aside, but his is determined to know what happened to his baby sister.

  
*******  
In the dizzying whirlwind that had become her brain since seeing Gabriel, Castielle could not remember exactly how the decision was made to go to Gabriel’s house. But before she knew it, she and Dean are back in the car following Gabriel to his home.

**********  
When they arrived at the small house that Gabriel called home, Gabriel directed them to have a seat in the living room before he disappeared into what might be a spare bedroom.

  
When Gabriel returned in his hands is a child’s doll. Cas’s eyes widen at the sight of the doll, she is surprised that Gabriel has it. She had thought that the doll had been lost for all time. She could still vividly remember the exact moment that she had felt it be ripped from her grasp.

  
“Where did you find that?” Cas asks as she takes the toy from Gabriel. Once Cas has the doll back in her hands, she notices the necklace around it’s neck; the charm in the shape of the north star. It was the same one she herself had been wearing the night of the attack. Castielle could still vividly remember when she had woken up from the effects of the tranquilizer she had been shot with, in a cage that was much too small for her, she had noticed that the necklace was missing.

  
She had spent a long time alternating between crying for her family and wanting to go home and mourning the loss of what had been at the time her most cherished possessions. It had swiftly been replaced by the physical pain of the experiments that her captors had put her through.

  
“Right where you dropped them, Puppy.” Gabriel’s words are meant to be comforting, but to Castielle they just stroke a fire of pain and anger that had been smoldering in her for eleven years.

  
“I didn’t _drop_ them.” Castielle’s voice is quiet but beneath that it is an edge that is as sharp as a sword. “They were taken from me. Before I lost consciousness from being shot with a tranquilizer dart, I could feel someone take the doll from my arms and break the chain from around my neck. After that, I wasn’t a person anymore. I waited for someone to come save me. But no one ever came.”

  
“We would’ve looked for you, Cassie. But we didn’t know what had happened to you…” Gabriel didn’t have a chance to finish what he saying as Cas finally snaps. Putting the doll aside, she jumps up from where she is sitting to deliver a strong right hook to Gabriel’s face.

  
“You’re damn right, you didn’t know what happened to me!” Cas is almost shaking in rage, and the two men in the room are too much in shock at Cas’s actions to do anything. “I spent eleven years living in cages, like an animal. I was beaten on a daily basis. Shot up with drugs I don’t even know the names of. I lost my virginity when I was only seven years old. And not to an Alpha or a beta; or even a human… but to a freaking broom handle! Then I was sold to a very sick bastard who only wanted me because he wanted to try breed shifter pups. And I only got out because I clawed out the monster’s lungs, right after I ripped off his balls. But not before he tried to breed me one last time. I’m not a Pup anymore. I’ll be mated and probably have a pup of my own before the year is over.”

  
At the end of Cas’s tirade, Dean dares a look at Cas’s brother. Gabriel actually looks like he is about to be physically sick. Dean feels like he isn’t much better, as Cas had never shared those details to him before.

  
“Cassie-“ Gabriel starts to say. But he doesn’t get much else out, as Cas turns and leaves the house.

  
Gabriel seems to be in shock from both Cas’s words and actions. And while Dean knows he really shouldn’t say anything, as he doesn’t want to add to Gabriel’s anguish. But as he regains his composer from the shock of Cas’s actions, he feels like he should explain at least in part of Cas’s reaction to what Gabriel had said.

  
“Cas spent years trying to convince herself that her pack didn’t just abandon her. She was told that no one was looking for her, that no one wanted her; and at some point she had begun to believe it. While you didn’t mean to do it, you confirmed for Cas that it was the truth.” With that, Dean got up from his seat and goes in search of Cas. Dean doesn’t have to look far. He finds Cas pacing at the car. Dean can tell by her body language that she is still seething.

  
“Cas, you ok?” Dean asks, as he comes up behind Cas. Cas jumps slightly as she is startled out of her thoughts. When Cas sees that it is Dean that is behind her, her anger seems to dissipate.

  
“I survived that night; while most of my family did not. I should be thankful for that. Not get upset because Gabriel thought I lost a doll and necklace.” Dean recognized Cas’s back peddling technique; constantly trying to apologize for something as simple as feeling normal emotions. “I don’t even know why I grabbed that doll to begin with that night; when I didn’t even think to put on my shoes. I could’ve ran faster if I had grabbed my shoes or even shifted. But I didn’t want to lose the doll.”

  
“Cas, you were a five year old pup; woken up in the middle of the night to something that would’ve been a nightmare for an adult. You didn’t know what was going to happen if you had grabbed your shoes or your doll. I could tell by your face when Gabriel gave it to you that the doll had meant a lot to you.”

  
“Stupid, isn’t it? I’m sixteen and pregnant with my own pup and a toy from when I was a pup still means something to me. You’re probably wondering what’s wrong with me: caring about a toy I had when I was five years old.”

  
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Cas. If I had to go through even half of what you have: I’d be a broken. The fact that you’ve not only survived it, but conquered it: proves that you’re a fighter. I might be the Alpha, but you’re the strong one, Cas.” Dean assures her.

  
Dean pulls Cas into a hug being mindful to not put pressure on her back. Cas spend several moments just scenting Dean. His scents of fresh leather and smoky pine are incredibly comforting right now. He smells like home. One that Cas desperately wants to make.

  
“Get me away from here.” Cas mumbles into Dean’s neck.

  
“Ok, Cas. Whatever you want.” Dean answers as moves to open the door for Cas to get back in the car. As they drive away, Dean pretends not to notice the way Cas tries to subtly wipe the tears away from her eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

John is woken up by the sound of someone knocking on the front door. Glancing at the clock beside the bed, John notes that it is 3:30 am. Deciding to investigate, John attempts to disentangle himself from Mary.

“John, what is it?” Mary asked as she felt John leave the bed.

  
“I thought I heard something. It’s probably just one of the boys going to the bathroom.” John lies; hoping to reassure his mate. But then John could hear the knock again; and it is definitely at the front door. John could tell from Mary’s body language that she heard in too.

  
“I’m going to see what’s going on.” John says as he leaves the room. He is vaguely aware that Mary has followed him out of the room. But instead of going downstairs with him, Mary heads towards Sam and Adam’s rooms.

  
Ever since Dean had been taken, the pack had been on alert; so John doesn’t expect an intruder on the pack lands. But he is still on alert as he makes his way to the front door. When John gets to the front door, he turns the porch light on to see who is on the front porch. A hooded figure is standing on the front porch. With the hood up, it is impossible for John to see the person’s face.

  
John opens the drawer of the small table in the entryway, inside he had a handgun stashed. John hopes he won’t have to use it, but he will not be unprepared if this is a threat. When John does open the door, the person on the porch has turned towards something beyond the porch.

  
“Turn around and remove the hood.” John commands with his Alpha voice. The person on the porch turns, and reaches up to remove their hood, and John swears he nearly has a heart attack when the hood is removed to reveal the face of his eldest.

  
“Surprise.” Dean says as he gets the hood all the way off.

  
“Dean?” John asked, part of him not believing what he is seeing. But before Dean could say anything, John pulls him roughly into a bear hug. But Dean doesn’t seem to mind as he holds on just as tightly. The embrace is only broken by the sound of someone coming down the stairs. It takes John only a second to recognize the sound of Mary’s footsteps on the stairs.

  
John can feel the moment when Dean realized that Mary is coming down the stairs. Dean pulls away when Mary reaches the bottom of the stairs. Anything that Mary was going to say dies when she catches sight of Dean. Instead, once Mary finds her voice, she is only able to say: “Dean?”

  
Dean fully pulls away from John to move towards Mary. Mary also enveloped Dean in an embrace. It is when Dean is in his mother’s arms, does his emotional walls break down and all the emotions that he has been bottling up since he was taken. Mary feels a wet spot form on her shoulder. She just wraps her arms tighter around Dean and allows him to release his emotions on her shoulder.

After a few minutes, Dean finally pulls away; he has tear tracks running down his cheeks.

  
“Are you alright, Dean?” Mary asked, concerned because Dean rarely shows emotions. Dean just nods and looks towards the door. When he doesn’t see what he wants to, Dean says: “I’ll be back in a sec.”

  
Dean goes back out to the car that John just noticed parked outside. Dean opens the passenger door, illuminating the interior of the car. That was then they noticed that there was someone else with Dean. The girl is younger than Dean stepped out of the car. Dark hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. If Dean said anything to her, it was too quiet for John or Mary to hear. For a moment, it appeared as if Dean was about to put his arm around the girl’s shoulders; but at the last moment grabbed ahold of her hand instead. Dean leads the girl to the house.

  
“Mom, Dad, this is Castielle.” Dean introduced his companion. “She escaped with me, and has nowhere to go.”

  
John and Mary exchange a look that Dean can’t read. Dean thinks that both his parents have to smell that Cas is pregnant. But fortunately, neither chooses to comment on that right now. But before either of them would have a chance to say anything, Cas decides to speak up.

  
“Mr. and Mrs. Winchester. I want to apologize for any inconvenience. I do not wish to be a burden.” She stops, swallowing. Cas then looks to Dean for reassurance before continuing. “But as Dean said: I have nowhere else to go.” Dean recognizes one of Cas’s nervous tells in just those few sentences. Whenever Cas gets anxious: her speech becomes more formal.

  
Feeling the need to comfort the younger Omega, Mary steps forward. Dean knows that Mary emitting calming hormones as he can feel it having an effect on him.  
“You can call me: Mary; Sweetheart. But we need to know: does your family know where you are?”

  
Cas shakes her head. “No, They… they died. A long time ago.”

  
“Cas was a member of the Pontiac Pack.” Dean explains when it is obvious that Cas isn’t going to explain much more. That revelation seemed to answer some questions for John and Mary; but Dean knows that they will have others. Ones that Dean really doesn’t want to have to answer yet. John seems about ready to say something, but Mary beats him to it.

  
“We can discuss everything in the morning. It’s late, and I’m sure you two must be exhausted.” Mary said, noticing just how rough her son and Castielle looked. It appeared as if nether teen had slept much in days.

  
****  
Later, after John and Mary got sleeping arrangements settled; with her in Dean’s room and Dean on the couch. Cas lays awake in Dean’s bed, unable to get her mind to settle down to go to sleep. She is unable to settle without Dean.

Cas is also nervous about discussing what had happened to her with Dean’s parents. She hasn’t even told Dean everything that had happened to her over the course of her life. Her fear of rejection is still plaguing her. And she fears that if people knew everything that had happened to her: they would not want her.

  
In addition to those problems, Cas is also dealing with the revelation that Dean’s parents are the pack leaders; and that Dean is heir apparent. The Pack Leadership family is the shifter equivalent to Royalty. Cas could easily admit that is intimidating to her. After all, even if she hadn’t been captured, she would have been considered below Dean’s social class.

  
Even though Dean’s parents had been nice so far; in her experience, she knows that people normally have ulterior motives. She knows that it isn’t fair to always suspect someone’s motivation of doing anything. But in her defense, she had spent the majority of her life surviving purely by her wolf’s instincts. And those instincts make it hard for her to trust anyone. Dean is the sole exception to her long held practice of never trusting anyone. Ever since Dean was dragged, unconscious, into his cage; there had been something about him that had caused her to trust him.

  
Cas is startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the door to the bedroom opening. Sitting up in the bed, Cas prepares for a fight if the person opening the door intends her, or her pup, harm. But when the door opened enough to reveal the person on the other side, Cas breathes a sigh of relief that it is only Dean.

  
“Did I wake you?” Dean whispers as he enters the room; and Cas momentarily flashes back to the cage.

  
“No. Can’t sleep.” Cas whispers back. “What are you doing up here?”

  
“Can’t sleep either.” Dean answers, as he approaches the bed. “Scoot over.”

  
Cas dutifully slid over to the other side of the bed, allowing Dean to crawl under the covers with her. Once Dean was settled in the bed, Cas immediately moved closer to cuddle into him. Dean wrapping his arms around her when she seemed to find the position that she is comfortable in.

"Is this ok?" Dean asks, suddenly unsure of his actions. 

"Uh-huh." Came the dignified response. Cas is obviously drifting off fast now that she is in Dean's arms; her ear right over his heart. the sound of the beats lulling her to sleep. Dean just plants a gentle kiss into Cas's dark locks and allows himself to relax for the first time in weeks; knowing that he had succeeded in the escape. He's home now with his family. His future mate and unborn pup are safe now in his arms. 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is short. But fortunately my ispiration for this is coming back so I hope not too long of a wait for the next chapters. I am however in need of suggestions for a name for Dean and Cas's pup; so if you have any suggestions, please leave them in a comment. 
> 
> Also always if you enjoy this story: leave a comment or Kudos. :-)


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning after Dean returned home, Mary is among first ones to get up in the morning. Before going downstairs to begin making breakfast, she checks on her sons. Sam and Adam are still soundly asleep. But when Mary looks in on Dean’s room, she is only mildly surprised that Dean had come upstairs to join Castielle.

  
As Mary prepares to make breakfast, she can’t help but contemplate the situation that they have involving Dean and Castielle. Mary knows that the younger omega is pregnant, but what she doesn't know for sure is if the pup is in fact Dean's.  
Mary can had noticed that Dean is showing signs of claiming towards Castielle, and if that is the case it is highly likely that Dean has a connection to the pup. As alphas don’t normally claim an omega who is pregnant with another’s pup. While Mary could put off some of Dean’s behavior to being protective of Castielle, his act of coming upstairs in the middle of the night, in their home, is more of a mating act.

  
Shaking herself from her musings, Mary focuses on her task of preparing breakfast. After all, it won't help worrying about something that she doesn't know all the details. But once they finish breakfast is over, they will discuss what happened.

  
Soon the smells of food cooking rouse the boys from sleep. And Mary can almost track the movements upstairs by the sound coming through the ceiling.

  
Before they had gone back to bed last night, Dean had asked for them to not say anything to Sam and Adam in the morning. Knowing Dean, he probably wants to surprise them. So Mary tries to act normal as the boys come into the kitchen.

 

That is harder than Mary would have thought as every day that Dean had been missing, Sam had seemed to be more and more depressed. Mary knows that Sam blames himself for what had happened to his older brother, even if there really was nothing that Sam could have done to change what happened. She and John both had to reassure Sam almost daily that they were just thankful that Sam had got away from the humans, and that he shouldn’t feel guilty for being alive and safe. Mary just hopes that after Sam sees that Dean is not only alive, but safe now too, it will lift that burden off of Sam. Then the moment of truth came when Mary hears Dean coming downstairs.

“Morning everyone.” Dean says as he enters the kitchen as if he hadn’t been missing for nearly a month.

  
Mary wishes she had a video camera ready for when Sam and Adam see Dean for the first time. Sam drops his fork onto his plate and looks like he just saw a ghost. Adam’s normal chatter cuts off suddenly and he just stares at his brother with big eyes. But before Dean can say anything, Sam seems to regain his senses and he nearly knocks over his chair in his haste to launch himself at Dean.

  
Dean just barely manages to keep his feet when he is tackled by his shaggy haired brother. The sudden addition of Adam to the hug a moment later proves to be too much however, and all three boys are suddenly on the floor.

  
“Alright boys; let your brother up.” Mary intervenes. She is slightly worried that Dean’s fight reflex might take over before Dean could stop himself. When Dean had arrived home, he had a look to his eyes that eerily reminded Mary of John when he returned from Vietnam. It was the look of someone who had seen, and done, too much and ready to fight any threat that came at him; whether that threat was real or not.

  
Sam and Adam untangle themselves from Dean and reluctantly resume their places at the table. Dean gives Mary a grateful half smile as he pulls himself to his feet.

  
“Is Castielle coming down?” Mary asks as she hands Dean a plate; noting the absence of the younger Omega.

  
“I don’t think that Cas is feeling too good right now.” Dean admits and it looks like Dean is about to head back upstairs to check on her.

  
“I’ll go up and check on her, Dean. You sit down and eat your breakfast.” Mary says in a tone that means no argument as she turns to leave the kitchen. “Once you’re done: your Dad wants to see you in his office.”

  
As Mary heads upstairs, she can hear Sam launch into a barrage of questions directed at Dean. Deciding to leave the boys to their breakfast, Mary climbs the stairs and heads towards Dean’s room and the adjacent bathroom.

  
She finds Castielle in the bathroom. While Castielle wasn’t throwing up, she defiantly seemed like that might not be far off.

  
“You ok, Honey?” Mary asks noting the lack of color in Cas’s face. Mary turns to the cabinet and retrieves a cup and a washcloth, she fills the cup and wets the washcloth at the sink before turning her full attention to the younger Omega.

  
“Sip the water slowly. It will help settle your stomach.” Mary instructs, as she hands the cup to Cas. Mary then squats down next to Cas, and gently moves her hair and bathes the back of her neck. As she does so, Mary sees the tips of the scars on Cas’s back; she makes her touches lite as they seem to still be sensitive to touch. Mary can’t help but wonder if Dean has similar marks on his back. But she pushed the thought aside as at the moment she needed to tend to the younger Omega that she was kneeling beside.

  
While Mary was gently tending to her, Cas had to choke back a cry. Mary was being so gentle, so Mom-like, that Cas felt a sudden wave of grief and longing for her own mother. The last time she had a caring, maternal touch was… Cas couldn’t even remember when anymore. But before she could truly loose herself in the feeling, Cas heard Mary voice.

  
“Morning sickness is just one of the perks of being pregnant. When I was pregnant with Dean: it felt like I was sick for months, but it really doesn’t last that long and it will all seem worth it when you hold your pup for the first time.”

  
Cas allowed herself to be lulled into relaxation as Mary’s words painted warm and fuzzy images for her. As the tension in her body leaves, Cas can’t help but notice that the nausea goes with it.

  
“Do you want to go back to bed?” Mary asks when she notices some of the color return back to Cas’s face.

  
Cas just nods her head and lets Mary help her to her feet.

  
Mary allows Cas to lean against her on the journey back to Dean’s room. Morning sickness during the first pregnancy is always the hardest on an Omega. In this stage, Omegas tended to need other Omegas for the support that they offer each other. And with Cas being still so young, her body needs that support more than anyone.

  
********  
John had left early for an emergency council meeting. Dean’s disappearance and now sudden return had caused a lot of tensions between Packs and the human communities that were near their boarders. The sooner that they knew what happened to Dean and identify the people responsible, the sooner they could put the tensions to rest.

  
It has been years since the last major conflict between humans and shifters, and John doesn’t wish for conflict now. But chances are that; until laws are passed that acknowledge the legal rights of Shifters and protection measures put in place, conflicts will continue to happen.

  
And Dean’s admission that Castielle was from the Pontiac Pack will, undoubtedly, cause an uproar. It had been believed that not many had survived the massacre, despite the insistence by one of the survivors that there was some unaccounted for. In fact, now that John thinks about it: one of the pack members thought to be unaccounted for was a female pup that would have been around the same age as Castielle.

  
John idly wonders if Castielle has any family left. His musings are cut short however by a knock on his office door.

  
“You wanted to see me?” Dean says as he stands in the doorway of the office.

  
“Have a seat, Dean.” John said, indicating one of the chairs across from him. As Dean does so, John noted just how much Dean has matured over the time that he was gone.

  
"Dean, we need to talk about what happened to you.”

  
“No. We’re not talking about a bad day here, Dad. The things that happened to me; the things I saw; the things I was forced to do: there aren’t words. There is no ‘making it better’. It’s all right here.” Dean says, indicating his head.

“And they’ll never go away. Ever. You wouldn’t understand. And I could never make you understand. So I’m not going to talk about it.” As Dean finishes talking, Mary joins them in the office.

  
“You want the truth about the pup?” Dean asks, seemingly already knowing what was bothering his parents the most. “Fine I’ll tell you. As you’ve probably already guessed: it is mine. The person responsible for taking me wanted to breed shifter pups. Why, exactly I’m not sure, but they already had Cas, so they needed an Alpha. I’m not sure how long I had been there when they decided to try.” Dean pauses, and from the look in his eyes, John and Mary know that Dean is censoring what he is telling them.

  
“They had Cas tied down on a breeding bench and had given her drugs to bring on her heat. When I was brought into the room with Cas, I had my hands handcuffed behind my back. There were two guards standing ready with a Taser and the button that would cause a shock to either me or Cas due to a shocker on the collars that they had locked around our necks. And who knows how many other weapons that they had hidden throughout the place. It was either I knot Cas, and try to make it good for her; or the shock was the least of my worries. Cas had attempted to fight them before they gave her the drugs, and they beat her for it.”

  
With that, Dean got up from his chair. Only thing on his mind is going to find Cas. But before he could Mary joins him outside.

  
“Dean,” Mary said softly. “Let’s take a walk, shall we?”

  
“I really should check on Cas, Mom.”

  
“She was asleep when I left her. Morning sickness can take it out of an Omega.”

  
“Didn’t I teach you boys to indulge your elders, Dean? She was asleep when I left her. Morning sickness can take it out of an Omega.” Dean fell into step with Mary as they walked away from the settlement. Dean figured that Mary had chosen that direction so other members of the pack couldn’t overhear their conversation.

  
“You’re not that old, Mom.”

  
“Good boy.” Mary says with a gentle smile.

“Dean, do you really love Castielle? Or are you wanting to mate her just because you feel like it’s expected of you to do so? Because it isn’t fair to either of you to try to force a bond to work between you if you’re not in love.”

  
“I love her, Mom. I know I haven’t known her for very long, but I’ve never felt this way about an Omega before.”

  
“What about the pup?” Mary asks. 

  
“And I can take care of the pup as well.”

  
“Dean, I’m not talking about taking care of the pup. I mean loving the pup. How does Castielle feel about the pup? Have you even asked her?” Mary asks.

When Dean doesn’t respond, Mary continues on: “That pup wasn’t conceived out of love, Dean. It wasn’t even because you and Castielle had decided to knot. On some level, it had to be a violation to Castielle. I know she doesn’t blame you for it. But it won’t be easy for her to forget what happened to her. Will she be able to look beyond how that pup was conceived to love the pup as she would need to? And what about you? You know that this is going to have a big impact on your life? You’ll be responsible for raising this pup. Every decision that you and Cas make, you will have to consider how it will affect the pup. It won’t be easy.”

  
“The pup didn’t have a say in whether it wanted to come into this situation. In my view it is as much as a victim as me and Cas; one that fortunately won’t have to know what it was like in that hellhole. And as for decisions affecting the pup: I can’t think of a bigger decision for the pup is letting it have a life. Something it wouldn’t have if we didn’t get out of there. “

  
Something about Dean’s answer must have settled something for Mary; as she doesn’t say anything more about the pup or mating. They return to the settlement, Dean returns to the house to check on Cas and Mary heads towards John’s office.

***********  
Mary finds John still in his office. His desk is a mess of paperwork that Mary soon recognizes as John’s copy of the reports from the Pontiac massacre. Mary decides not to say anything about it, as she knows John had taken that attack almost personal. With it having happened so close to his childhood pack. Instead Mary just takes a seat in the chair across the desk from John, waiting for her mate to say the first words. She doesn’t have to wait long.

  
“They’re too young to be mated, Mary; much less be having a pup.” John says as if that had been a revolving thought in his head for a while now.

  
“I’d normally agree with you, John, in any other circumstances. But I don’t think that either of them really had a choice in the matter. They’re just trying to cope with what happened to them. Dean recognizes a responsibility to both Castielle and the pup. And you know as well as I do: once Dean focuses on something, that train won’t budge from its track. John, it doesn’t matter how it happened: what matters is that the pup that Castielle is carrying is Dean’s. If Dean and Castielle can accept this pup, despite how it was conceived; then how can we do any less?”

  
“You mean you’re really ok with our seventeen year old son getting mated and becoming a father?” John asked incredulously.

  
“I’m not happy about this situation, John.” Mary assures him. “But Dean and Castielle don’t need us adding stress on top of them. We both know that the odds are stacked against them, and that is not taking in account everything that they’ve been through. They both need our support to be able to get through this. I don’t want to drive a wedge between us and them because of something they had no control in. I’ve talked to Dean, they’ve made up their minds on getting mated. If we try to stop them: they’ll just run off and get mated without our blessing.”

  
“They’d really do that?”

  
“I believe that they would. Our son is more like you than either of you would like to admit.”

  
John pauses as he contemplates everything that has come to light in the last few hours. Then with the regal of Pack Alpha, John gives his verdict: "They can get mated in four months. Give them time to adjust to being out. See if they still want to get mated then.”

  
TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it was hard to get this chapter done. I know it is short, but it wasn't coming together any other way. I'm thinking of posting the scenes that I have come up with that didn't fit in this chapter. So let me know in the comments section if you are interested in reading them.

In the weeks following the arrival to Dean’s pack, the pack has been a buzz of activity. First was the celebration of Dean’s return. They had thought the teen was dead, so their return to the pack had been marked by a great celebration. Then, there was the preparation for their mating ceremony. And Cas’s role as the bride is to oversee all the planning and preparations. And there was just so many choices. Every detail from the flowers and decorations to cake, from the menu to seating; it seemed as if it all needed to be decided on.

  
Fortunately, Mary had recognized just how overwhelmed the younger Omega was and had offered her assistance. Dean had also introduced Cas to some of the other Omegas in the pack that are around Cas’s age. Cas had formed friendships with a few of them, who had also helped Cas on planning the Mating ceremony.

  
Dean wanted to help Cas but he and the other Alphas in the pack are busy building the house that would be for the young couple once they are mated. Something about living in a home that Dean helped build for them had appealed to Cas greatly and she spent as much time as she could at the building site, watching their new home take shape. Dean jokingly accused her of using the building site “inspections” as a way to escape the wedding planning.

  
But under the surface of the wedding planning and preparation for their future life together, there were two incidents that proved that even though Cas was physically free, she still had a long way to go to adjust to a normal life.

  
The first one was when Cas, under pressure from Mary, had gotten a physical from Pamela to get herself and the pup checked out. She had made it through most of the physical alright. But when Cas had to lay back on the examination table for Pamela to check on how the pup was developing; something had triggered a severe panic attack.

It had taken almost twenty minutes for Cas to calm down enough for Pamela to continue. Fortunately, one of Pamela’s assistants had come up with the idea of allowing Cas to listen to the pup’s heartbeat on a special stethoscope for the rest of the examination. The rhythmic beats of the pup’s tiny heart had provided a calming effect on Cas that had allowed Pamela to finish the examination.

  
The second one wasn’t really one incident but more a series of them. Cas suffered from severe nightmares, all either reliving events that had happened to her in the past. Or her mind taking elements of her abuse and combining them into her own personal hell.

  
Taking into account the nightmares in conjunction with the panic attack, it was clear that Cas needed help. So Dean had persuaded Cas to have counselling sessions with a counselor that specializes in PTSD; as it’s clear that Cas is suffering from the condition.

  
Missouri Moseley is an excellent counselor. She didn’t push Cas to talk about what had happened to her. Instead she allowed Cas to open up in her own time. The process seems to be a great help to Cas as it seems that the nightmares are becoming less frequent, and they were becoming more aware of Cas’s triggers.  
Eventually, the four months deadline had passed and it was time for a Mating Ceremony.

  
*********

  
It was a tradition that they are apart the night before the mating ceremony. She is staying with John and Mary, while Dean is staying with Bobby Singer.  
Cas lay awake that night unable to sleep. She misses Dean, as she hasn’t been away from Dean since he had been brought into the cage. But she tries to shut that thought down, she doesn’t want to add fuel to the nightmares.

  
Suddenly, Cas feels what feels like butterflies fluttering in her baby bump. Cas gasps slightly and her hands immediately gravitate to hold onto her slightly swollen stomach. She waits to see if it would happen again. It takes what feels like forever to Cas; but eventually, she feels the movements again. And they seem to be getting stronger. A small smile begins to spread across Cas's face. Her pup is kicking for the first time.

  
"Hello, my little angel" she whispered as she rubbed a hand over her bump. "I'm so glad to know that you are there."

  
While she is happy to feel the pup move for the first time, Cas wishes that Dean is here to experience it with her. As she has that thought, the pup begins to kick again.

  
“You miss your Daddy too, don’t you?” Cas asks the baby bump. She can still feel the pup moving around, seemingly restless. So not knowing what else to do, Cas begins to rub circles around her swollen belly. It seems to help the pup settle down.

And in a moment of remembering the mother that she lost, the one that she has desperately tried to hold on the memory of, she began to sing one of the few songs she remembers her mother singing:

  
_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…"_


	18. Chapter 18

The morning of the mating ceremony could best be describes as busy; much like it is for a human wedding ceremony. The ceremony is to begin at 12:30, but Cas has several hours of ‘prep work’ as Charlie had called it before the ceremony.  So Cas is up early to begin getting ready for the ceremony.  The first task is to get a shower.  Cas finds that she is the first one up that morning

So trying to be quiet, Cas goes to the bathroom and begins to take her shower. She isn’t sure if it’s the pup or nerves that has her stomach fluttering.  But as Cas washes her hair, she feels the pup really begin to kick. She drops her shampoo covered hand down to cup her baby bump.

“Hello Little One. Are you excited too?” Cas asks, as she rubs circles on her belly.  The pup responds with a couple strong kicks. Cas isn’t sure if it is normal or not, but she feels like the pup can understand her and communicate with her through it’s kicks.   So as she finishes her shower, Cas continues her one-sided, to outsiders at least, conversation.  Turning off the shower, Cas wrings the water from her hair; before grabbing the towel to wrap around her to leave the bathroom.

Leaving the bathroom, Cas hears noises from downstairs that sounds like John and Mary in the kitchen. Cas just passes the stairs to head to the bedroom that had been hers and Dean’s for the last four months. Once she gets there she begins to get dressed. Cas steals one of Dean’s button up shirts and a pair of running shorts.  Most of their belongings had been taken to their house in the weeks leading up to the ceremony, so Dean’s shirt  and shorts are some of the few articles of clothing that is left.

Cas knows that Charlie will be here soon to go with her to have her hair and makeup done. Dean had introduced Charlie to her a few days after arriving back to the pack; and she has become a good friend. The bubbly redhead has been very supportive of her and Dean’s relationship since day one. Many of the other Omegas in the pack almost see her as competition. Charlie confided that several of them had a romantic interest in Dean.  And since Cas is the lucky Omega to capture the Alpha’s heart, there is obviously a sense of jealously in the ones who felt like it should have been them.

Cas pushes those thoughts aside as she begins to comb the tangles out of her long hair. After all, today is not the day to think about jealous females that had wanted her mate.  Putting her brush in the bag that will go to their house later, Cas forgoes any attempt to style her hair.

After she finishes putting on her shoes, Cas opens the small jewelry box on the top of the dresser. Inside the box is a ring that Dean had given her. She slips the ring on her left hand ring finger.

 

She knows most packs don’t use engagement rings, but Dean had gotten it for her. It had been his way of letting her know that it wasn’t because of the pup that he wanted to mate with her.  That fact had been quietly insinuated by some pack members. It hadn’t been helped by the fact that Cas had begun showing in her pregnancy fairly early as she had been very thin when she had gotten pregnant.   Now though, Cas’s weight has seemed to have balanced out; and while she is still thin, she is no longer unhealthy.

Putting on her shoes, Cas leaves the bedroom.  Going downstairs. Cas finds Mary in the kitchen. Mary is alone in the kitchen, which is surprising, as Cas figured that John and the boys would be in there having breakfast.

“John took the boys and breakfast over to Bobby’s already this morning.” Mary explains, seemingly reading the younger Omega’s thoughts. She hands Cas a plate and begins to dip up to her own plate. The two start to eat breakfast in a companionable silence.  Over the past four months, the two women had become closer. Mary knows that the younger Omega is going through a time that most Omegas wants their own mothers by their side. And most Omegas didn’t go through what Cas had been through.

As she is eating breakfast, the pup begins to kick hard. Cas begins to rub her belly, hoping it will help calm the pup down.

“Are you ok?” Mary asks, noticing Cas’s actions.

“I started feeling the pup move last night. It seems that the pup is just as excited about today as I am.” Cas explains. Mary can’t stop herself from putting her hand on Cas’s belly.  After a few moments, Mary feels the pup move under her hand.

“Well, hello there. I’m your grandma.”  Mary says to the pup. 

“I remember when I felt Dean move the first time. The troublemaker rarely let me get a moments rest. I use to make John drive me around in the Impala, playing classic rock, every night. It was the only way to get Dean to settle enough for me to go to sleep.”  Mary says. She removes her hand, allowing Cas to resume eating. 

They are just finishing breakfast when Charlie arrives to take her to her appointment to have her hair and make-up done.  So after Cas brushes her teeth, she and Charlie get into Charlie’s Volkswagen to head over to the salon. 

Gilda is a couple years older than Dean. She ran a successful beauty salon on the pack lands. There is pack gossip that linked Charlie with the quiet Beta. Gilda had an assistant on hand to help curl Cas’s long locks. It had been Mary’s idea for Cas to have most of her hair down and to use the veil to help cover the marks on her back. While they are doing Cas’s hair, they make small talk. 

They are just finishing up Cas’s hair when Mary arrives at the salon. While Cas isn’t expecting Mary to be at the salon, she is more shocked by the young man that is accompanying her. 

“Cas, there is someone that insists on seeing you.” Mary

“What are you doing here?” Cas asked surprised to see Gabriel.

“Dean invited us.” Gabriel answers as if that was the obvious answer.

“Us?” Cas asked, not knowing just who Gabriel would bring with him.

“Me, Luke and Balthazar. They’re already heading to the church, but I wanted to see you. I know that we weren’t on the best of terms when you left…” Gabriel says as he subconsciously touches the spot where Cas’s fist had connected with his face. “And I wanted to apologize for that.”

“Apologize?” Cas asked, wondering why Gabriel would be apologizing to her. Receiving an apology is still a somewhat foreign concept to the young Omega. But Gabriel decides to ignore her confusion for the moment.  Instead he moves to kneel next to the chair Cas is sitting in. Everyone else seems to know that this is probably a private moment between the two siblings and decide to leave them alone.

“If I could go back to that night…” Gabriel falters, and seems to be struggling with his own memories of that night.  “I never should’ve left you behind, Puppy. I should’ve protected you, and it’s my fault that I didn’t. And if I had known what was happening to you, I would have never given up looking for you.” Cas starts to open her mouth to argue, but Gabriel presses a finger to her lips to stop her.  “I know that I can’t change the past. All I can hope for is that you’d give me a chance to work on a better future. Will you give me that chance, to be your big brother again?”

With tears in her eyes, Cas just nods her head; afraid that if she tried to speak she would bawl like a young pup.  But Gabriel doesn’t seem bothered by that as he pulls her into an embrace.  And as Cas scents his neck, the scents that she had always associated with comfort as a pup causes her emotional walls to crumble and shatter. 

Castiel clenched her teeth as hot tears stung her eyes and she tried to keep them back while her body shook. The sound of it embarrassed her under the misery, but Gabriel only held her harder. She really isn’t sure what she is crying over now; whether it is for the fact that Gabriel apologized to her or is it that she could understand the night her family was murdered through Gabriel’s perspective.  Once she had calmed herself down enough, Cas could hear Gabriel muttering smoothing nonsense.  Taking several deep breaths, Cas finally calms down enough to pull away. 

Gabriel hands her a tissue, allowing her to dry her face.  “Can’t have the bride red-eyed and blotchy for the ceremony.”

There seems to be something that Gabriel wants to say, but seems unsure on how to say it. Finally, he decides to just say it: “I know that I don’t deserve the honor; but I was wondering if you’d allow me to walk you down the aisle?” 

Cas has yet to fully regain her voice yet so she just nods her head. 

“I’ll meet you at the church after you finish getting beautiful.” Gabriel says, before he presses a brotherly kiss into her hair and leaves the salon.

Once Gabriel leaves, Gilda begins to do her make-up; but there is a notable change in Cas’s demeanor.  Once Gilda finishes her makeup, she pins the veil into Cas’s hair.

With a final check in the mirror, Cas and Charlie leave the salon.  They head over to the church where the ceremony is to take place.

Last night at rehearsal, they had taken Cas’s mating dress to the room where she will be getting dressed in. So they enter through a back door to go to the room where the clothing is waiting for them.

Once they get there, Charlie and Jo, Dean’s eleven year old cousin, get changed into their dresses on while Cas gets her hosiery and other under garments on. Then the two girls help Cas get changed into her gown. 

They are just zipping up the back of Cas’s dress when there is a knock on the door. The door opens slightly and they could hear Gabriel’s voice.

“Is it safe to come in?”  

“Yes, Gabriel. We’re dressed.” Cas says as she picks at imagined wrinkles in her gown. When Gabriel enters the room, Charlie and Jo leave to get into place for the ceremony to start.

“I forgot to give you this earlier. I thought you might want it.” Gabriel says as he pulls a small jewelry box out of his suit jacket pocket.

Inside the box was the same necklace that had been taken from her that fateful night eleven years ago.  

 

“I had the chain repaired, and lengthened, that way if you would want to wear it you can.”   Gabriel says. 

 With shaking hands, Cas removes the necklace from the box.   Gabriel gently takes the necklace from her and secures it around her neck.  He takes a step back to look at his baby sister.

“You look beautiful, Cassie. So grown up.”  Gabriel says.  Cas gives her older brother a small smile. 

“I missed you, Gabriel.” Cas says as she wraps her arms around Gabriel’s waist. Since being free, Cas’s has become more willing to give affection.

“I missed you too, Puppy.” Gabriel says as he returns the hug.

Before the siblings could say anything else, there is a knock at the door signaling that the ceremony is about to begin.

“Time to get you mated to your Prince Charming.” Gabriel says as pulls back from Cas.  They leave the room and get in place for the walk down the aisle.

As they make their way down the aisle, all Cas can focus on is Dean; waiting for them at the front of the church.  He looked very sharp in his black suit and crisp white shirt. Instead of a normal tie, Dean, with his cowboy fetish, had opted for a bolo tie.

 Beside him is Benny standing in as Dean’s best man.  Also standing at the front is the Minister that is performing the ceremony: Pastor Jim Murphy.

After a walk that takes both only seconds and hours to Cas, they are at the front of the church. Gabriel places her hand in Dean’s after brushing a kiss against her knuckles and takes his seat in the front row.

“Today we have come together to witness the joining of these two lives. For them, out of the routine of ordinary life, the extraordinary has happened. They met each other, fell in love and are finalizing it with their wedding. A good marriage must be created. It is never being too old to hold hands. It’s remembering to say I love you every day and it is not just marrying the right person its being the right partner.”

 

“Dean, do you take Castielle to be your Mate?  Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?”

 

There is no hesitation as Dean confidently says: "I do"

 

Pastor Jim turns to Cas as it is her turn to take her vows.

 

“Castielle do you take Dean to be your Mate?  Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?”

 

Blue eyes locked with green, and Dean saw nothing but love in those depths as Cas quietly said: "I do"

 

Pastor Jim then took the rings from Charlie and Benny and placed them on the Bible in his hand.

 

“Mating rings are an unbroken circle of love, signifying to all the union of this couple in marriage. Dean, place this ring on Castielle’s left ring finger and repeat these words: ‘Castielle, This ring is my sacred gift, with my promise that I will always love you, cherish you and honor you all the days of my life. And with this ring, I thee wed’.”

 

Dean repeated the words as he slid the ring onto Cas’s finger.  As with the vows, it is now Cas’s turn.

 

“Castielle, place this ring on Dean’s left ring finger as you repeat these words:  ‘Dean, This ring is my sacred gift, with my promise that I will always love you, cherish you and honor you all the days of my life. And with this ring, I thee wed’.” Castielle did as Pastor Jim said and slid the ring onto Dean’s finger.

 

“By the power vested in me I now pronounce you” Pastor Jim turns to address Dean “You may kiss your bride.”

 

Dean pulls Cas into his arms and kisses her with a kiss that is neither too passionate or too chaste.  Once the newly mated couple part, Pastor Jim addresses the rest of the church.

 

“I present to you our happy couple.”

 

The church applauds as Dean and Cas make their way down the aisle and exit the rear door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't able to post the pictures to go along with this chapter. So if you're interested: you can check them out on my Tumblr page:   
> https://daytona8991.tumblr.com/  
> And as always if you're enjoying this story please leave Kudos and Comments ;-)


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